Chicken and Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers

Chicken and Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers - I turned this into a vegetarian dish and substituted chicken with mushrooms.

ingredients
• 1 tablespoon margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 10-3/4-ounce can reduced-fat and reduced-sodium condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup water or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup onions
• 4 cups cubed cooked chicken (or mushrooms, about 6 cups)
• 3 cups hot cooked rice
• 5 large green sweet peppers (about 8 ounces each)
• 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
• 1-1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (5 ounces)

directions
1. Melt margarine or butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery and cook about 5 minutes or until tender.
2. Stir in condensed mushroom soup, onions and water or broth. Heat until bubbly. Stir in chicken (or mushrooms), heat through. Stir in rice' remove from heat.
3. To assemble, halve peppers lengthwise; remove stems, seeds, and membranes. Place pepper halves, cut sides up, in a large shallow baking or roasting pan. Divide chicken mixture among the pepper halves. Sprinkle with lemon-pepper seasoning.
4. Bake peppers, loosely covered with foil, in a 350 degree F oven about 45 minutes or until heated through. Top with cheese and pimiento. Bake, uncovered, about 5 minutes more or until cheese is just melted. Makes 10 servings.

I only used 4 bell peppers so had some of the stuffing left, which was actually pretty yummy just on its own. I noticed some people just ate the stuffing and didn't really like the bell peppers anyway, so maybe make it as just a side next time?? Original recipe called for a packet of onion soup mix, but I took it out and added onions and some salt because I figured that's all the mix would be anyways. I also didn't have lemon pepper so squeezed some fresh lemon juice into it. I'm starting to get good at substituting and just winging the measurements. Pretty cool =)