Stuffed Sweet Red Peppers

Stuffed peppers happen frequently in my kitchen, even if only the adults in the family enjoy it.

Most of the time the stuffing is leftovers - typically rice and beans, or TVP, or millet or quinoa. When I found these colorful beauties at the farmers market, I knew they would come home to get roasted/stuffed.

Here's a variety of stuffed veggies showcased in a previous post.

This time I went with some leftover basmati rice sauteed with onions, tomatoes, Ethiopian berbere spice powder, stirred in with some dried cranberries and toasted walnuts.

Southwest Rice Stuffed Red Peppers

Stuffed vegetables are always fun. And, not just vegetables, anything that lends itself well to stuffing seems a fair game.

Millet and Lentils Stuffed Golden Danish Squash is a particular favorite in autumn when these dainty squashes flood the local farm markets.

Kohlrabi Greens Dolma Bites is another favorite, especially during the Kohlrabi season when local farms and CSA showcase these lovely bulbs aka enlarged stems above the soil.

Stuffed Kohlrabi in Coconut Cream Sauce is another seasonal favorite much relished by the adults in the house

Stuffed Okra might be an acquired taste for some, but, it seems like another favorite at home.

Zucchini Mahshi, inspired by Lebanese-cuisine, is an easy summer favorite of stuffed zucchini served in a spicy sauce.

Nutty Fruity Rice-Stuffed Swiss Chard Dolmas are perfect when these lovely greens are in season in my home garden.


Anyway, the stuffing this time was rice, flavored with Southwest-inspired spices and vegetables -- corn, black beans, red peppers, onions, ancho chilies with some Taco seasoning mix.

Brush the red peppers with oil and roast them in the oven for a short time, then stuff with rice and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Finally, top with some mozzarella and Parmesan and broil right before serving.

Mushroom and Cherry Pepper Shahi Curry

"Shahi" Curries usually have a rich nutty base with mild spices blended layer by layer to add deep flavors.

Any vegetable can be used, or even home-made cottage cheese, paneer. Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, chayote squash, butternut squash, potatoes, and even ivy gourd (coccinia grandis) are wonderful vegetables to make this curry with.

Sweet red cherry peppers along with meaty cremini mushrooms and red onions makes this a perfect dish to serve with naan or brown basmati rice.

Ingredients

For the Masala Paste:
2 Tbsp roasted peanuts
2 Tbsp roasted cashews
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2-inch piece of Indian cinnamon bark
2 cardamom pods
1 start anise
1 teaspoon toasted poppy seeds
1 Tbsp cumin powder
2 Tbsp Tamarind concentrate (sold as Sour Soup Mix in Asian stores)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 teaspoon hot chili powder
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste


Curry sauce:
¼ cup vegetable stock
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or ghee, if handy)
salt to taste
Mushrooms, onions, and cherry red peppers, chopped into chunks


Preparation

1. Combine the masala paste ingredients and grind to a fine paste
2. Heat oil in a pan, saute the masala paste till oil separates; add tomato paste and saute a bit more
3. Add the vegetables, and the rest of the curry sauce ingredients, cover and simmer till vegetables are done

Turkey-Stuffed Red Pepper

Stuffed peppers are easy and sumptuous. I prefer the red or the orange peppers for their mild sweetness, rather than the green peppers. And the stuffing depends on the mood and what's available.

Purple peppers were the rage for a while if I could find it at the farmer's market. (Incidentally, Lesson Learnt: not wise to rely on free sites to host my pictures. Most of my food photos from the infancy of this blog are lost; and, I don't have a copy as I never did regular back-ups back then and my old laptop died... well, a series of unfortunate events, as they say, but quite propitious as I get to take fresh pictures when I make them again these days!)

The usual cranberry-pine-nut-rice stuffing like for dolma would be good for the peppers as well. But, to satisfy the protein cravings of the nicer half, these red peppers are stuffed with ground turkey.

Ground Turkey Stuffing:

1. Finely chop some red onions, red cabbage, carrots, celery, flat-leaf parsley, garlic 
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the ground turkey, a sprinkling of salt, taco seasoning, and paprika and cook till done
3. Stir in the finely chopped veggies, cover and cook a few more minutes till veggies are tender yet crisp

Stuffed Peppers:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425°F
2. Cut the bell peppers in half, brush with olive oil, sprinkle some salt and bake in the 425°F oven for about 5 minutes; turn down the oven to 375°F
3. Remove pepper halves from the oven, stuff with the prepared stuffing, cover the stuffing portion of the peppers with a small piece of aluminum foil
4. Return the stuffed peppers to the 375°F oven and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes till peppers are tender

Top with toasted pine nuts, chopped scallions and parsley or cilantro, and serve warm.

Ajvar Hot Eggplant & Red Pepper Relish

We've been having some of our staples lately - idlee, dosai, roti, rasam, pizza and such... so, no exciting new recipes to try out and share here.

This ajvar relish is one of our staples as well, as a dip, as a side, as a base for other dishes...

Ajvar is a Balkhan roasted eggplant and sweet red pepper relish, sometimes referred to as vegetarian caviar. ZerGut Ajvar is a popular East European product found in ethnic food stores here. However the store-bought ones somehow seem to be a little too sweet and have this aged smell that feels a bit unappetizing for me sometimes. Trader Joe's™ brand so far is my favorite for ready-made ajvar. However, since it is easy enough to make at home and I can adjust it a bit to my taste, I make a batch on and off and store it in the fridge, and use it to flavor other dishes.

Ingredients
1-2 eggplant
3-4 sweet red peppers
4-6 dry red chilies
1-2 garlic cloves
¼ cup lemon juice
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Roast the sliced eggplant and red peppers over open flame (I use my gas stove for this step), or in a 475°F oven (broil a bit to char the skin, if preferred); put in a paper bag, cover and allow to sweat a bit; remove charred skin if desired - I like to leave it on for the smoky flavor
2. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop up, combine with the garlic and dry red chilies, blend to a chunky relish (or smooth if using it as a spread)
3. Add lemon juice and olive oil to taste; adjust salt
4. Allow to cool completely and store in an air tight jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
5. If canning it, cook over medium-low heat and can when hot

Enjoy Ajvar in many ways:

• mix with some cream cheese to make a delicious sandwich spread
• mix it with some yogurt and sumac to make a mouth-watering sauce for wraps or pita pockets
• add enough olive oil and a bit of lemon juice or red wine vinegar for acidity to make a wonderful salad dressing
• use it as-is on toasted olive-ciabatta bread or rosemary-potato bread or any favorite baguette slices
• use it to flavor curries and stews as in the Chickpea stew below

Chickpea Stew flavored with Ajvar

Ingredients
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup cooked diced beets (optional)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup ajvar (or more to taste)
1 Tbsp agave nectar or brown sugar (optional)
garnish: cilantro, spring onions
salt to taste

Preparation

1. sauté the onion and combine the rest of the ingredients and simmer together with enough water or broth to preferred stew consistency
2. garnish and serve warm

cellophane noodles in roasted red pepper sauce

I shied away from Cellophane noodles (mung bean threads) for a long time due to health concerns that surrounded it briefly... but, have started using it on and off over the last few months or so.

Any other thin noodles like rice noodles can be used instead, in this recipe.

The red pepper sauce just came together one evening and can be adjusted to taste. If nam prik pow and sambal oelek are not handy, dry red chilies, or even cayenne pepper powder, or favorite brand of red hot sauce can be substituted. It is just a form of hot and sweet sauce, with roasted bell peppers acting as the primary flavoring ingredient bringing in some sweetness, along with nutty peanut butter, and balanced by some form of hot sauce.

Ingredients:
1-2 bundles of dry cellophane or rice noodles

for the sauce:
2 medium red bell peppers, roasted
OR 1 jar of store-bought roasted red bell peppers, packed in water
¼ cup chunky peanut butter
2 Tbsp sambal oelek
2 Tbsp nam prik pow
1 Tbsp canola oil or sesame oil

1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp tomato paste (optional)

salt to taste
water as needed

for garnish:
chopped spring onions
chopped cilantro
toasted sesame and poppy seeds

Preparation

cook cellophane noodles per package direction, drain, rinse, drain well, set aside

combine the sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend to a fine fairly thick paste; if using canned roasted red peppers, drain the water before using

heat oil in a pan, add the tomato paste if using, and sauté it till deep red and aromatic; then add the red pepper paste and bring it to a gentle simmer, adding water to required sauce consistency; adjust flavors to taste

add the cellophane noodles, stir well

off heat, garnish with spring onions, cilantro, toasted sesame & poppy seeds; serve warm