Tag Archives: bell peppers

Roasted Bell Peppers with Tomato and Garlic

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Very versatile, these little gems make splendid hors d’oeuvres eaten out of hand or set atop a crostini, as well as a side dish. A few on a plate make a nice sit-down first course, and they’re great as part of a buffet.

They add a nice pop of color—along with the nutrients—to your plate. The first go-around we served our Roasted Bell Peppers boats with a Parmesan Meatloaf.

Roasted Bell Peppers with Tomato and Garlic

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 2 anchovy filets, chopped
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperture
  • 2 bell peppers, red and/or yellow
  • 1 med-large tomato
  • Freshly ground blak pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
  2. Lightly oil a 13 x 9-inch gratin pan or similar-size baking dish.
  3. Combine the garlic and anchovies in a small mortar, add a pinch of salt, and smash and grind to form a paste. Add the butter and work together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
  4. Half the peppers lengthwise and remove the core, seeds, and soft membrane-like ribs. Cut each half lengthwise into 1 1⁄2″ wide strips. Arrange the strips skin side down on the baking dish. Core the tomato and cut it into the same number of wedges as you have pepper strips. Using a sharp paring knife, carve the juicy seed pockets away from each tomato slice and discard. Season tomato strips on all sides with salt and pepper.
  5. Dived the seasoned butter among the pepper boats, spreading a small amount on each one. Top with a piece of tomato. Drizzle with olive oil.
  6. Roast until the peppers and tomato pieces are tipped with brown and the pepper is just barely tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle the peppers and tomato with parsley and serve warm or at room temperature, with the juices pored over the top.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipes from “All About Roasting” by Molly Stevens

Pepper Steak Stir-Fry

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The Hubs was recently gifted the cookbook “The Wok” by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. Stir-fries are one of our favorite go-to dinners when we crave something quick and healthy, so this was a welcome addition to our culinary library. The Pepper Steak recipe was the first dish we tried and if the rest of them follow suit, they all promise to be winners!

Make sure to to follow the instructions for marinating and massaging the beef—it makes a tremendous difference in the tenderness of the steak. And if you have leftovers, they were just as tasty as the first time!

Pepper Steak Stir-Fry

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb. flank steak, skirt steak, hanger steak, or flap meat, cut into 1/4-inch thick strips
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce (divided)
  • 1/3 cup Shaoxing wine or dry sherry (divided)
  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup low-sodium homemade or store-bought chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large green bell peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch squares
  • 1 large red bell pepper, cored and cut into 1-inch squares
  • 1 large onion, cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch strips from pole to pole
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 2 tsp. finely minced fresh ginger
  • 3 scallions, whites only, finely minced, green parts for garnish if desired
  • 4 Tbsp. vegetable, peanut, or canola oil
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • Steamed rice, prepared as per package directions

Directions

  1. For the Beef: Place the beef in a medium bowl, cover with cold water and vigorously agaitate it. Drain through a fine mesh strainer set in the sink and press on the beef with your hands to remove excess water.
  2. return the beef to the bowl, add the baking soda, and vigorously massage the baking soda into the meat, lifting the meat, throwing it down and squeezing it for 30-60 seconds.
  3. dd the soy sauce , wine, sugar, and cornstarch and roughly work the marinade into the meat for at least 30 seconds. Set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes.
  4. For the Sauce: Meanwhile, combine remaining soy sauce with corn starch and stir with a fork to form a slurry. Add remaining Shaoxing wine, chicken stock, sesame oil, sugar, and pepper. Set aside. Combine peppers and onions in a bowl and set aside. Combine garlic, ginger, and scallions in a bowl and set aside.
  5. For the Stir-fry: When ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over high heat until smoking. Add half of beef and cook without moving until well seared, about 1 minute. Continue cooking while stirring and tossing until lightly cooked but still pink in spots, about 1 minute.
  6. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with 1 more tablespoon of oil and remaining beef, adding beef to same bowl. Wipe out wok. Repeat with 1 more tablespoon oil and half of peppers and onions. Transfer to bowl with beef.
  7. Repeat with remaining oil and remaining peppers/onions. Return wok to high heat until smoking. Return peppers/onions/beef to wok and add garlic/ginger/scallion mixture. Cook, tossing and stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add sauce and cook, tossing and stirring constantly until lightly thickened, about 45 seconds longer. Carefully transfer to a serving platter and serve over steamed rice.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe from “The Wok” by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Chinese Stir-Fry with Black Bean Sauce

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This tasty Asian sauce is quite adaptable to any stir-fry. Go ahead and double it if desired so that you have enough for an additional stir-fry in the future. The choice of vegetables is also a personal preference, but try to keep the total amounts about the same.

Prep all ingredients before you start the stir-fry. We substituted hatch chile peppers for the green bell because it was a new item that we had never tried before. They look very similar to long hots, which are quite spicy. The package indicated they had a medium heat level—we thought they were milder than that. They also take a bit longer than the red bell pepper to soften in the wok.

Chinese Stir-Fry with Black Bean Sauce

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Bean Sauce

  • 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 tsp. dry sherry or Shaoxing
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. Chinese black bean and garlic sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp. Asian chile paste
  • 1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger

In a measuring cup, combine the cornstarch with the sherry, whisking to blend. Then whisk in the remaining ingredients. Set aside. Can be easily doubled.

Staples

  • 3 Tbsp. peanut oil
  • 1 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed caps cut into 1/4″ slices
  • 6-8 scallions, trimmed with whites cut into 1″ lengths, greens sliced thin for garnish
  • 4 garlic scape stems cut into 1/2″lengths; or 3 garlic cloves sliced thin
  • 1 each red and green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1″ pieces
  • I lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1″ chunks
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup white rice, cooked according to package directions

Directions

  • Heat a large wok on high. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil. When smoking, add scallions and garlic stirring constantly for 2 minutes, then place into a large bowl.
  • Add 1 more tablespoon to wok and toss in bell pepper pieces, stir continuously for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften. Put in bowl with scallions.
  • Put final tablespoon peanut oil into wok and then add chicken. Let chicken sit in hot wok for one full minute before you start to flip; then stir until the pink disappears. Add chicken to bowl with vegetables.
  • Pour reserved black bean sauce into wok, when hot dump all of the bowl ingredients into wok and stir-fry for 1 minute.
  • Serve steamed rice on each dinner plate topped with stir-fry. Garnish with chopped basil and scallion greens.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Coconut Milk Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Bell Peppers

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This Coconut Milk Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Bell Peppers recipe is a wonderful fusion of Thai flavors. It’s the perfect bowl of warming comfort food brimming with color and flavor. Made with chicken thighs, spices, sweet potatoes, bell peppers and creamy coconut milk, it’s cozy, creamy, perfectly spiced and filled with vegetables. Finish each bowl off with steamed rice, herbs, and plenty of lime.

The spice mix on the chicken is key to the flavor. It’s a mix of turmeric, ginger, cumin and black pepper. After tossing the chicken with the spices, if you have the opportunity, let the chicken get happy overnight to take on even more flavor. You don’t have to do this, but even a few hours in the fridge adds more depth to the dish.

When everything is in, just simmer the chicken in the pot and let it slowly cook in the coconut milk. It doesn’t take too long, about 30 minutes or so for thighs (shorter if you’re using breasts.) The coconut milk is obviously creamy and flavorful, but it also prevents the poultry from drying out and creates super tender pieces of chicken.

Coconut Milk Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Bell Peppers

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 1 Tbsp. ground turmeric
  • 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. black pepper
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 Tbsp. sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 bell peppers, seeded and sliced
  • 2 medium shallots, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. chili flakes, or more
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
  • 2 cans 14 oz. full-fat coconut milk, whisked until creamy
  • 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (or soy sauce)
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • Steamed rice, for serving
  • 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves
  • 2 limes, quartered, for serving
  • Roasted peanuts

Directions

  1. Toss the chicken with the turmeric, ginger, cumin, pepper, a pinch of salt, and 1 tablespoon oil. Let sit 5 minutes or up to overnight in the fridge.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 the chicken and sear on both sides until browned, about 2 minutes. Pull the chicken out of the pan, and repeat with remaining half of chicken.
  3. To the pot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the peppers, shallots, garlic, and chili flakes, cook 3 minutes, then toss in the sweet potatoes. Reduce the heat to med-low. Pour in the coconut milk and fish sauce. Slide the chicken and any juices on the plate into the milk.
  4. Simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through ad potatoes are tender. If the sauce becomes too thick, cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Stir in the cilantro and season with salt.
  5. Meanwhile, make the steamed rice according to package directions.
  6. Divide rice between bowls, then spoon the chicken and sauce over the rice. Top with basil, peanuts, and serve with lime wedges.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe loosely adapted from Half-Baked Harvest

Green Stuffed Peppers with Meat and Bread Crumbs

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Stuffed Peppers with garlicky mashed potatoes is another one of those comfort meals; especially when the weather is on the cool side. And for the better part of Spring 2020, it’s unfortunately been cooler than normal here in the Northeast U.S. (until the last couple of days that is…)

Yes, there are as many ways to make these gems as there are meatball recipes. Here, I concentrated on using green bell peppers and bread crumbs instead of rice. (We’d been having a lot of rice lately.) Plus, no need to precook the rice, thus saving time and having to clean another pot.

Blanching the peppers helps the vegetables retain a nice bright color but it doesn’t really cook the vegetable. If you prefer, you can absolutely blanch your bell peppers before stuffing them. In this case, I skipped that step and saved a little time and dirtying yet another kitchen item. Two points!

Stuffed Peppers

A full 28-ounce can of tomato sauce may seem like a lot. But we love to top our mashed potatoes with it as well as the peppers. In fact, we had two stuffed peppers remaining, but no more sauce, so for the leftovers, we’ll open up another can.

Our herb garden was at picking stage already, so I was able to harvest four, very large basil leaves and enough fresh parsley for the stuffing. If you cannot access your fresh herbs, go ahead and used dried, although the end result won’t be quite as profound.

Make sure to select a heavy pot that is large and deep enough to contain all of the peppers with a little extra room for the tomato sauce.

Stuffed peppers with Meat and Bread Crumbs

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4 large green peppers, stemmed, cored, and seeded
  • 1 1/2 lbs. meatloaf mix
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 large shallot, peeled and minced
  • 1 cup fine bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 4 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 4 large fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 28-oz. can tomato sauce, divided
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • Sauté the shallot and garlic for a few minutes, then cool.
  • Add the cooled shallot mixture to the rest of the ingredients.
  • Mix the stuffing well with your hands.
  • Stuff all peppers with enough meat mixture to fill to the top.
    If you have any extra, just mound it on top of each one.

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add minced shallot and garlic. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally until the shallot is translucent. Move off of the heat to cool.
  3. Combine the meatloaf combo with all the other filling ingredients including the cooled shallot mixture and 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Stuff the peppers all the way to the top.
  4. Stand the peppers on end in a casserole dish. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
  5. Reduce the temperature to 375°F and pour the remaining 2 cups of tomato sauce over and around them.
  6. Continue baking until the inside temperature of the meat reaches 160°, about 40-45 minutes.
  7. Bring to the table in the casserole dish and serve.
  • Cook the stuffed peppers at 400° for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, reduce the temperature to 375° and pour the remaining sauce over them, then cook another 45 minutes.

http://www.lynnandruss.com