Collard Greens Stir Fry with Fried Tofu

Fall greens from last year are at the end of their lifecycle, flowering and going to seed now. If I am not too lazy, I hope to save the seeds and use it again this year.

After the cold winter, it is refreshing to see the hardy annual greens in the garden survive and thrive till they give up: Kale, Chard, and Collard greens. Arugula has flowered and gone to seed as well. Time to dig up the patch and start afresh...

Anyway, I have been incorporating these greens from the garden in my cooking lately. Collard greens is a special favorite thanks to their sturdy leaves and their tender stems that cook up easily.

Some collard greens from the garden, plus  carrots, and bell peppers, along with hunks of onion-flavored fried tofu come together in this simple stir-fry. Use any favorite stir-fry sauce, I tend to go with whatever is handy to throw together and am in the mood for, and I don't measure exactly.

Spring onion and garlic shoots have been popping up, fresh and happy as ever so I liberally garnish the dishes with these beauties.

Bui's Natural Tofu is my go-to store for getting tofu that I enjoy.
(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Bui's Natural Tofu)


Ingredients
Onion flavored fried tofu (pictured in buinaturaltofu.com)
Carrots
Red and green bell peppers
2 cups chopped collard greens, stem and all

Flavoring:
Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce, if preferred)
Tamari
Sesame oil
Rice vinegar
Mirin
Agave nectar or Grape Molasses (or, just brown sugar is fine)
freshly grated ginger
minced fresh garlic

Preparation

1. Heat some sesame oil in a pan, add the ginger and garlic, and stir fry till aromatic, then add the bell peppers, carrots and collard greens
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients for the stir-fry sauce, adjust flavors to taste and keep handy; usually, I make more than needed and save the rest for another day
3. When veggies are slightly tender, add in the sauce, stir fry, and finish cooking.
4. Garnish with spring onions and toasted sesame seeds

Fire-roasted Eggplant Gothsu

Gothsu  (Gojju) is a fairly common tamarind-based fire-roasted eggplant dish in south India. As always, there is a general principle on what ingredients to be added in what proportion, but is always adjusted to each family's tastes. Some prefer a sprinkling of brown sugar to bring out the flavors  and add a mild sweetness, while others frown upon brown sugar in any of the spicy tamarind-based sambar and gothsu and other curries.

Fusion cuisine being my specialty, this dish did not confine itself to the bounds of traditional south Indian formula based on sambar powder.

Instead, Mekelesha and Mitmita spice powders from Ethiopia brought in that warmth and spiciness that gothsu is relished for.

It is rather fun to char the eggplant over open flame in my gas stove. For a blend of flavors, I went with fire-roasting some red and yellow bell peppers and pan-roasting cherry tomatoes for the recipe.

Ingredients
2 long Ichiban or Neon eggplant
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
10 cherry tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp finely grated ginger
2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Mekelesha spice powder
1 tsp Mitmita spice powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Fire roast the eggplant, bell peppers, and roast the tomatoes in the oven or pan; allow to cool a little and dice finely
2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions, ginger, a pinch of salt, and turmeric powder; sauté
3. When onions are translucent, add the roasted veggies, tamarind, spice powders and brown sugar, stir to combine; add a splash of water as needed, cover, and allow to simmer till flavors meld
4. Taste and adjust flavors; garnish with scallions and cilantro
5. Serve warm with basmati rice or naan or roti

Refreshing Cucumber Mango Sweet Potato Salad

Come spring, I start dreaming about the various fresh vegetables that will start rolling into the market as the season progresses... and the salads I can make with them.

This refreshing cucumber mango salad is marinated in a zesty lime vinaigrette for that extra burst of flavor. Semi-ripe and firm mangoes that are not mushy work best for this salad as they bring the tangy-sweet flavor.

Sweet potatoes are optional, but, since the older child loves them, it gives another dimension to the salad with its texture, and its mildly sweet flavor.

Ingredients
English cucumber, diced chunky
Seedless red grapes, halved lengthwise
Grape or cherry snack tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Celery stalk with leaves, coarsely chopped
Kale leaves, ribboned
Orange bell pepper, diced
Semi-ripe but firm mango, sliced
Shallots or purple onions, sliced thinly

Lemon-Lime Sweet Vinaigrette
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey or agave nectar
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp ground paste of fresh jalapeno and cilantro**
1 Tbsp cilantro chopped finely for garnish
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chives
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 garlic clove squeezed through garlic press
6 Tbsp hazelnut oil or walnut oil
salt to taste

**Pulse some fresh cilantro leaves, some fresh de-seeded jalapeno, some oil and apple cider vinegar to make a coarse paste

Preparation

1. Massage the kale ribbons with some olive oil and let them sit 
2. Combine the cucumbers, mango, celery, bell peppers, onions and toss with some salt and the cilantro-jalapeno paste from the step above; allow to marinate while assembling the rest
3. Pan-roast the sweet potatoes and allow to cool before tossing into the salad
4. Stir together the vinaigrette ingredients, adjust to taste
5. Serve layered or tossed, with feta or goat cheese, if preferred

Kale and Southwest Veggies Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Israeli Cous Cous

Simple saute of kale with southwest blend veggies like onions, peppers, corn, black beans, and maybe some mushrooms, is versatile as a base for many other dishes.

A good helping of this sauteed veggie blend wrapped in home-made rotis makes a fantastic lunch. And the leftovers come in handy for this chicken dish.

Ingredients
chicken breast, boneless skinless, thinly sliced
some red wine vinegar and Bragg Liquid Aminos for marinating

Veggies blend: Kale, corn, black beans, onions, red peppers, ancho chilies, mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes

Spices: either store-bought cajun seasoning or home-blend of favorite spices

A few tablespoon oil for pan-cooking

Ptitim, aka Israeli Cous Cous

Some toothpicks

Preparation

1. Thinly slice a medium chicken breast into three slices, pound to uniform thickness as needed 
2. Marinate in some red wine vinegar and Bragg liquid aminos for a few hours to overnight 
3. Saute the veggies with spices and keep handy
4. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat
5. Assembly: Place a scoop of the sauteed veggies on a marinated thin slice of chicken breast; roll it up, pulling in the sides, and secure with toothpicks so it doesn't unravel while cooking
6. Gently arrange the stuffed chicken breasts on the hot skillet, cover and allow to cook over medium heat till the bottom is seared and the inside is cooked
7. Flip gently and cook the other side as well until the thickest part registers 165 ° F
8. Cover and allow to rest before serving with cooked cous cous

Herb-Walnut Encrusted Wild Alaskan Ling Cod with Kale Pesto

Ling cod is mild and buttery, perfect for fish-and-chips or broiling with a crusty topping. We had a hunk of it caught in Alaska by the other adult last summer that I wanted to use up.

Herb-Walnut crust that crisps under the broiler, with a layer of Parmesan cheese forming a crunchy topping, seemed like the way to go. Typically, butter is used for the crust, but I went with olive oil in this recipe.

Paired with Kale Pesto made with sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, this was a nutty, seedy treat one winter night.

I did leave the fish a tad longer in the broiler than I intended... that seems to happen a lot when I ignore the oven timer and focus on something the kids have drawn me into... but, it was still all good. It helps to keep an eye and check often when broiling.


Kale Pesto:
1½ cups chopped kale
½ cup roasted salted sunflower seeds
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
6 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic
salt to taste

Pulse the ingredients till desired coarseness/smoothness for the pesto.

Herb-Walnut Crusting:
½ cup chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh chopped basil or freeze dried basil
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste


Ling cod cut into portioned chunks
1 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil (or any oil)
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
3 to 4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese,grated, to use as topping

Preparation

1. Start the Crisp Julienned Veggie Salad as below, and allow it to marinate while the fish is getting ready
2. Pulse the Herb-Walnut crust ingredients and keep handy
3. Preheat the oven to Broil at about 370 °F
4. Rub the fish with some salt and smoked paprika, if using
5. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet, place the fish gently, allow to brown a bit, then flip and brown the other side, on medium low heat, till mostly cooked through on the inside
6. Turn off the stove, apply a layer of the Herb-Walnut crust on the fish and place the skillet with the fish under the broiler and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes till the crust turns brown and crunchy
7. Sprinkle a layer of grated Parmesan and continue to broil for a few minutes more till crisp on top
8. Remove from the oven, serve on a bed of Kale Pesto, accompanied by Crisp Julienned Veggies salad.

Crisp Julienned Veggie Salad:
Julienne some beets, colorful bell peppers, yellow sumer squash, purple onions, carrots, ginger
Toss with some lemon juice, salt, and apple cider vinegar
Serve as a side salad to add a cleansing freshness to the palate

Breaded Halibut with Poblano Peppers and Colorful Sweet Peppers

Another hunk of halibut fillet was thawed and ready in the fridge, part of a 10-pounder that the other half caught in Alaska last summer.

Breading and pan-frying is the easiest, but it can get boring if just using plain old bread crumbs or Panko all the time. So, in an effort to use up the soon-to-go-stale Triscuit™ crackers, I went with a fun breading made out of roasted almonds, parsley, and the said Triscuit. Simply crumble them in a blender.

Poblano peppers when sauteed give out this delicious flavor and aroma, which when combined with red onions and sweet peppers can be heavenly. This formed the veggie accompaniment to the breaded halibut, which was pan-cooked. Rather than dip in egg whites before the crumb coating, I dipped in buttermilk and pressed into the breading mix, on both sides.

Heat some oil in a cast-iron skillet that is moderately hot, place the breaded halibut fillet and press down, leave it undisturbed in medium heat till browned and firmed on one side. Carefully flip and cook the other side as well. If the flipping is not done with caution, the breading will peel off. Cook till fish is done, about 150° F in the thickest part.

Rockfish with Peppers, Kale, and Tofu

Some of the fresh-caught Alaskan rockfish that came home frozen this summer was ready to be cooked after thawing overnight in the fridge.

Some sauteed colorful bell peppers, ancho chilies, kale, and onions make the cozy bed on which the bite-sized chunks of rockfish is served.

Rockfish itself was cooked on a pan with a dash of apple cider vinegar, a generous drop of Zenjiang vinegar, and a splash of Braggs Liquid Aminos.

The tofu is my favorite part. Some Kolhapuri Thecha from my previous venture combined with some BBQ sauce plus some Braggs Liq. Aminos forms the flavor sauce. Toss the extra firm tofu cubes with this sauce and bake in a 450 ° F oven for about 25 minutes.

Serve with a side of rice, if preferred.

Bisi Bela Huli Millet

"Bisi bela huli anna" translates to "hot lentils tamarind rice" in Kannada, a typical vegetarian dish that is out of this world when done right. Instead of the "anna" which is the rice part, this dish is made with millet.

This may not be the conventional method of preparation here, but, this is what I like to do: Simply add the chopped veggies, lentils, millet, tamarind paste, spices, salt to taste, in a pressure cooker, with enough water to cook it through. When cooked and ready, add some fresh tempering and garnish, and serve hot, with a generous dripping of ghee.

Most of the time, I use my home-made Sambar powder for the spice mix and flavoring, but this time I went with store-bought mix of spice powders that are easier to find at the local grocery stories.

Ingredients
Pressure cooker:
3 cups assorted chopped veggies: eggplant, onions, squash, peppers, broccoli stems, carrots (optional: peas)
½ cup Tuvar dal (split pigeon peas)
1.5 cups pearl millet
2 Tablespoons tamarind concentrate (I use Vietnamese Sour Soup Mix)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon Madras curry powder
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red hot chili powder (optional)
salt to taste
enough water to immerse the contents and build up pressure - about 5 cups

Garnish: ghee-roasted cashews

Tempering:
¼ tsp urad dal
¼ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp mustard seeds
3 or 4 curry leaves
1 tsp vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Pressure cook: Combine the ingredients for the pressure cooker and cook till done; the cooked dish will be mushy with a porridge-like consistency
2. Tempering: Heat oil in a small pan, add urad dal and allow it to turn a mild golden brown, add the mustard seeds and let them pop; cover with a perforated lid if preferred as the mustard seeds will spatter all over when they pop; add the fresh curry leaves, remove from heat and add to the bisi bela huli millet from the pressure cooker
3. Garnish: Heat some ghee in a small pan and roast some unsalted raw cashews till golden brown, toss in Curry leaves if available

Millet Meal Polenta Patties

Pearl millet ground up to a coarse meal is something I keep handy. It works great as a substitute for rice meal in some of the Indian dishes. This time, equal parts millet meal and corn meal came together with a dollop of ground lentils to make this polenta.

In case this is sounding complicated, the recipe is very close to Arisi Upma Kozhakattai, only, instead of 2 cups of rice idlee rava as called for in that recipe, I substituted 1 cup millet meal, plus 1 cup corn meal.

Once the thick porridge-like Upma/Polenta is made, roll into a log and pack it in foil, refrigerate it till it sets. I left it in the fridge the previous night, then cooked it for dinner the following evening.

Simply slice up this log when ready, pan cook both sides till brown and the insides are warm. Dust the slices with some chickpea flour before pan-frying to get the extra crispness and brownness, if preferred.

Saute some onions, peppers, tomatoes, and any other favorite veggies. Serve these Millet Meal Polenta Patties topped with the veggies, some feta, plus chopped kale, chopped celery leaves, and chopped spring onions.

Since some yellow pear tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes, kale, and spring onions are still alive in my home garden, now in mid-Autumn, I went with these, but, any combination of veggies would work just as well.

Sauteed Beet Greens with Farfalle Pasta

A nice bunch of beets sporting a lovely head of beet greens, along with some lacinato kale and chard came home with the CSA basket.

A handful of colorful mini peppers and some shallots were huddled together in the crisper, feeling ignored. Little did they know that they were being saved for some good stuff.

Chop up some garlic, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes. Also chop up the greens. 

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and sauté the chopped veggies, adding balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and Braggs liquid Aminos to taste, cover and cook till done, but not mushy.

Meanwhile, cook some farfalle al dente, drain and keep handy. Per cup of sautéed veggies, I prefer no more than half a cup of cooked farfalle to be mixed in.

When greens are done, toss in the cooked farfalle pasta and stir well. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and serve warm. I like it chilled, preferably the next day, when flavors have melded and is a fantastic summer pasta salad.

Migas: Crumbled and Mixed Veggies and Corn Tortillas

I stumbled upon migas a few years ago when I was making Chili Rellenos and didn't think much of it as it seemed like a quick scramble of leftover bread.

However, after reading Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones with delightful and quirky illustrations by Katie Kath, I was inspired to make a version of migas myself.

Stale-old almost-stiff-as-a-board corn tortillas got a new life with some colorful peppers and jalapeños, plus chard ribbons.

Sometimes, there's eggs and cheese, plus a side of avocados. And, sometimes, I leave out the eggs and have just the crisped tortillas and veggies.

Ingredients
1 cup chopped colorful bell peppers
1 japapeño, chopped
½ cup red onions, chopped
1 cup chard, chopped into ribbons
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp brown sugar
salt to taste
3 tablespoons of oil
4 to 6 corn tortillas, cut into bite-size squares
2 to 3 eggs, beaten (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a shallow pan and crisp up the corn tortilla squares and keep handy
2. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a separate pan and saute the veggies, adding the spices
3. Add the beaten eggs, if using, with the veggies and scramble
4. Toss in the crisped corn tortilla squares with the veggies and the eggs, serve warm

Roasted Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Bell Peppers, Red Onions

Roasted vegetables are the easiest and the most satisfying around this time of the year. A plateful of  these fresh-from-the-oven roasted vegetables is a meal in itself.

Toss the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, bell peppers and onions with some olive oil, herbs, grated Parmesan cheese, paprika and other spices and place in a single layer in a roasting pan and bake in a 425°F oven for about 25 to 30 minutes minutes.

Toss the chopped kale with some olive oil and spices and add it to the roasting pan and bake till kale is crispy and the other veggies are roasted, about another  8 to 10 minutes, making sure kale doesn't char.

Garnish with grated Parmesan and serve hot.

Sweet Sour Spicy Bitter Melon, Eggplant, Bell Peppers

I had half each of bitter melon, long eggplant, red and green bell peppers and decided to make a sweet-sour-spicy dish. It can be served with warm jasmine rice or even simple roti or naan. The picture shows it served with a small portion of chicken breast per the Other Half's request.

I salted the bitter melon for 10 minutes; rinsed and patted dry; then par-cooked in the microwave.

For the sweet-sour-spicy sauce:
2 tbsp sambal oelek
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
1 tbsp mirin

Stir the sauce ingredients. Adjust to taste as preferred. Heat some oil in a caste iron skillet, add the veggies, saute; add the sauce stir well and cook till desired doneness of the veggies. I like them crisp-tender.

Stuffed Mini Pepper Bites

I seem unable to resist picking up a bag of colorful mini peppers whenever I see it at the store- especially when it is on sale. There are recipe ideas on the bag, which I adapt to suit my tastes. This recipe here was inspired by a recipe on the bag of mini peppers I bought a while back.

The filling can be anything from a combination of cheeses to Indian style tamarind-and-mint or even potatoes-and-peas.

I went with a combination of goat cheese and feta this time: 3 parts goat cheese to 1 part feta. I made 3 kinds of fillings based on what I added to the goat cheese + feta mixture:
1. Habanero salsa (drain out the liquid) or any favorite salsa
2. Cilantro pesto (make it fairly thick)
3. German-style mustard with home-made sauerkraut (drained)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F
2. Cut the peppers in half with the stem on, and seed them if preferred
3.  Spoon some filling, place them in a single layer in a roasting pan, drizzle some olive oil
4. Bake in 350°F oven for about 10 minutes

Fresh from the oven, warm and flavorful, a plateful of these stuffed peppers are hard to refuse.

Sweet Potatoes & Green Bell Peppers with Long Pepper (Pippali) and Vinegar

Bell peppers, especially green bell peppers, seem to pair so well with mushrooms, eggplant, and summer squashes that I have come to take them for granted. Green bell peppers go well with sweet potatoes as I've come to appreciate in the last few years, especially in this dish which is quick to put together and can be served warm or cold.

Chunky-diced red onions, green bell peppers, and sweet potatoes come together for this mildly flavored side-dish which can be served as a warm salad. Or chilled and served over a bed of lettuce as a salad-meal.

To save time, I cook the peeled and diced sweet potatoes in the microwave - a few tablespoons of water, covered, and cooked till done - firm but not mushy - takes about 4 minutes on high power in mine.

Meanwhile, sauté the onions and green bell peppers (I also used some jalapenos, seeded) in some olive oil with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder.

Stir in the cooked sweet potatoes, stir well over high heat, allowing a few belle peppers to get that deep brown charred flavor. Then, splash a bit of Bragg™ Liquid Aminos (or, apple cider vinegar), sprinkle some freshly ground long pepper, and serve warm.

Ingredients
Bragg™ Liquid Aminos or Apple cider wine vinegar
1 tsp crushed or ground long pepper (pippali) (or, black/green pepper, or red pepper flakes)
½ tsp urmeric powder
salt to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 each of jalapeño, green bell pepper, sweet potato, plus about half a small red onion, all diced

Mini Pepper Poppers

Bajji, Pakoda, Ulunthu (Urad dal) Vadai, Masaal Vadai, Samosa... deep fried snacks were quite an indulgence around monsoon season when I was young. Of course, they were made for festivals and guests, and just because as well. Bajjis were my favorites - batter-dipped and fried eggplant, large green chilies, carrots, onions.

The weather being cold and soggy, and it being winter break for the kids, we felt like having some home-made deep-friend snacks.

Mini Peppers are so cute and colorful and have become my favorite indulgence of late, along with Baby Bella aka Cremini mushrooms.

Rather than the usual Baajjis, we had some Jalapeño and Mini Pepper Poppers, with some Habañero (seeded) thrown in the filling for the adults. Not an unusual recipe, but, quite satisfying nonetheless... Save any leftover filling in the fridge and use as sandwich spread

Ingredients
12 Jalapeño, Mini Colorful Peppers,
½  Habañero pepper, seeded and finely minced (optional)
8 oz Cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese
grated cheddar and mozarella as much as needed for the filling
garlic, herbs, finely minced
1 Tbsp finely minced drained, squeezed pineapple bits (optional)

some milk, flour for coating
about 20 oz. breadcrumbs or as much as needed for coating

oil for deep frying

Preparation

1. Filling: Mix the Neufchatel cheese, freshly grated cheddar and mozarella, some minced seeded habañero, finely chopped pineapple, minced garlic and set aside
2. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, seed them, and scoop some filling in and keep handy
3. Have a bowl of milk, a plate of flour, a dish of breadcrumbs ready
4. Heat the oil to about 375°F
5. Dip the filled half peppers in milk, then in flour, allow to dry; then dip in milk and then in breadcrumbs and allow to dry; then once more in milk then in breadcrumbs and deep fry
6. Drain in a paper towel and serve with favorite dipping sauce

Spicy Black-eyed Peas and Colorful Peppers

This spicy black-eyed peas with colorful peppers is a quick and easy side if the peas are cooked and ready to go. On and off, I soak 2 cups of  dry black-eyed peas and pressure cook them and freeze them in 1 cup portion, ready to thaw and use when needed.

The spice paste is a fairly standard one I use, but the proportions and herbs/spice powders can be varied as preferred. Sometimes I use cayenne pepper powder and paprika instead of cumin and dry red chilies, or even my red curry paste or green curry paste for the spice base.

Ingredients
for the spice paste:
2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp tomato paste
6 to 8 dry red chilies
½ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp cumin powder
1 Tbsp plain white vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar

1½ cups cooked black-eyed peas
4 mini colorful peppers, cut into rings
½ medium yellow onion, chopped
optional: cremini mushrooms

salt to taste
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

water as needed
garnish: spring onions, cilantro

Preparation

Combine the spice paste ingredients in a blender and grind to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan, add the spice paste, onions, chopped peppers, and a pinch of salt, and sautée till rawness fades.

Add the cooked black-eyed peas, some water, cover and cook till flavors meld.

Garnish and serve warm as a side, or with rice or naan.

Roasted Tri-Color Peppers and Green Apple Salsa

The bright colorful mini peppers were irresistible. After using a few for the Coconut Cream Tri-Color Peppers and Cremini Mushroom Soup, I had enough left for making this delicious salsa.

Simply pan-roast the peppers, allow to cool, remove skin, chop, toss with red onions and green apples, add some spices to taste and a splash of balsamic vinegar and there you have it! A wonderful salsa to top chicken breasts or scoop up with chips.

Incidentally, my favorite "chips" is the quick toasted kind: Cut up some Flat-Out™ Multigrain flat bread, spray with some cooking oil and toast it in the toaster oven till crispy.

Ingredients
Mini Tri-color Peppers
Green apple
Red onion
Pickled Jalapeño rings
Balsamic vinegar
Cumin powder
Smoke Paprika powder
A drop of Liquid Smoke (Wright's Hickory Seasoning) - optional
Olive oil
salt to taste
cilantro

Stuffed purple peppers

Only a few more weeks of Farmer's Saturday Market before they close down for winter... and it was Purple Mania all over again: I had to buy everything purple at the market.

The purple cauliflower went into a yummy salad with pears and raspberry vinaigrette. However, the purple bell peppers were asking to be stuffed and baked. Once cooked, the purple peppers don't retain their bright color, but, taste just as delicious.

Stuffing can be anything you like - say, wild rice stuffing as in my stuffed acorn squash recipe, or eggs with queso panela, corn and beans as in my Tomate Rellenos recipe, or even simple spiced potatoes and peas as for a vegetable samosa recipe.

However, I ended up stuffing these with leftovers. I wasn't in the mood to make special stuffing from scratch, and thankfully, there was enough spicy rice and cholay that needed to be used up anyway, so, this was rather a quick meal to prepare.


Ingredients
2-3 medium purple bell peppers (or red, or yellow, or orange)
Pam™ cooking spray
salt to taste

stuffing:
1 cup cooked rice - leftover rice with your favorite spices and vegetables
½ cup leftover cholay
¼ cup grated cheddar cheese (or any favorite cheese that melts well)
1 medium soy dog, diced
½ cup frozen peas
spring onions chopped (as much as you like)
cilantro, or other herbs for garnish

Preparation

1. Slice the top off the bell peppers, scoop out the seeds and ribs carefully without puncturing the flesh, slice a thin layer off the bottom to make sure the pepper will stand stably and not topple over
2. Heat the oven to 375°F
3. Either in a pan, or in the microwave, par cook the bell peppers: immerse them in salted water completely and boil for a few minutes - the thickness of the flesh and the variety of the pepper will determine how long to do this - basically, in this recipe the peppers are not going to be in the oven for too long (as the stuffing is all pre-cooked), and so, it is nice to make sure the bell pepper is not raw when ready to come out of the oven
4. Remove the bell peppers from water, pat dry, and stuff: a layer of rice at the bottom, a layer of cholay in the middle, and another layer of rice at the top
5. Spray or brush the outside of the pepper with some oil
6. Bake in a 375°F oven for about 15-20 minutes till the skin starts to wrinkle a bit, and gets softer and fork-tender (I usually pinch the top edge a bit to see if it is pliable)
7. Top with some cheese and place it under the broiler briefly till cheese melts
8. Remove from oven, allow to rest a bit
9. Meanwhile, sauté the soy dogs, peas and spring onions with your favorite spices, or just salt, and keep handy to serve on the side and possibly garnish the peppers before serving

Whereas D just picks up the pepper and bites big chunks enjoying all the goodness in each bite, I tend to dissect the thing with my knife and fork and try to take manageable forkfuls in as ladylike a manner as I can :)

Capsicum Paruppusili

Last year, when my mom visited us, our garden was bursting with peppers, squash, eggplant and tomatoes. My mom was frantically trying to find different ways to cook up these veggies. That's how capsicum paruppusili came about.

And since this qualifies as the JFI ingredient this time around, I am dedicating this post to the same. JFI:Chilli Peppers event is hosted this month by my dear pal, the lovely and talented Nandita of SaffronTrail

Capsicum is a genus of plants from the nightshade family (Solanaceae), native to Mexico, and now cultivated worldwide. Some of the members of Capsicum are used as spices, vegetables, and medicines. The fruit of Capsicum plants have a variety of names depending on place and type. They are commonly called chili pepper, red or green pepper, or just pepper in Britain and the US; the large mild form is called bell pepper in the US, capsicum in Australian English and Indian English...
...
The chili pepper, or more simply just "chili", is the fruit of species of the plant Capsicum from the nightshade family, Solanaceae.
The name, which is spelled differently in many regions (chili, chile or chilli), comes from Nahuatl via the Spanish word chile. The term chili in most of the world refers exclusively to the smaller, hot types of capsicum. The mild larger types are called bell pepper in the USA, simply pepper in Britain and Ireland, capsicum in Australasia and paprika in many European countries. -- Wikipedia

Paruppusili is basically, red gram lentils soaked with some dry red chilies, ground into a paste, steam-cooked and then pan fried and added to vegetable of choice, which in this recipe happens to be Capsicum. The procedure is the same as my Kovakkai Paruppusili. The only difference is, instead of Tindora/Kovakkai, substitute your favorite chilli peppers - in this case, it happens to be mild and sweet green and yellow bell peppers.