Slow Cooking a Different Kind of Stuffed Pepper
Because I am so adventuresome about food now, it may come as a surprise to many people I know that growing up I was a very picky eater. My parents did everything the right way, exposing us kids to the wonders of fresh vegetables and new and interesting cuisines, but I was often the last one stuck at the table (We followed the old fashioned clean your plate rule). I never let things like mushrooms, tomatoes, or red meat pass my lips, and more likely ended up feeding them to the family dog or wadding them up inside of my napkin.
I remember one summer night the plan was to have a camp-out in the backyard with our big green tent. Before dinner we had spent hours setting up our campsite, complete with lanterns and cartoon themed sleeping bags. However, one big problem would stop me in my tracks – dinner.
My parents had collected their first ever harvest of green bell peppers and so that night we had peppers stuffed with a mixture of rice, ground beef, and tomato sauce, which to me was the ultimate in grossness. Of course I refused to eat mine, and in a tremendous test of patience, ended up sitting there for what seemed like hours, refusing my parents' homegrown delights, while in the meantime my brother and sister moved on to bowls of ice cream and gleefully skipped out to the tent. Finally after an immense struggle of wills, I agreed to one bite, just so I could go on our “camping trip,” but I think I felt sick for the rest of the night.
All of these years later, it is the rare food I won’t even taste. I love mushrooms, tomatoes, and almost every other type of vegetable. But I still cannot learn to love, or even like, the green bell pepper. To me, it has a grassy flavor that just seems to overpower everything else.
Well I am happy to share that I’ve discovered a whole other world of stuffed peppers. The difference is in the variety. From Mexican Chile Rellenos (poblano peppers stuffed with a mild cheese mixture) to the slow cooked Greek Stuffed Peppers below, I see no reason to ever eat a stuffed green bell pepper again. Now I know that the reason I am not fond of green peppers is because they are bitter, and the long cooking of stuffed peppers only serves to accentuate this bitter, pungent flavor. But did you know green bell peppers are actually exactly the same as their sweeter, rainbow hued counterparts? It’s just that they are unripe.
In most recipes calling for bell pepper, including slow cooker recipes, I use my more preferred sweeter orange, red or yellow variety of peppers (with the exception of Creole recipes that call for the essential holy trinity of chopped green pepper, onion, and celery where the flavors nicely blend together). Of course, if you happen to love green bell peppers you can definitely use them in the stuffed pepper recipe below.
Stuffed peppers are an easy dish to add to your slow cooked repertoire. The recipe below features the Greek flavors of feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and oregano and makes a healthy and vegetarian light supper. It’s also an easy extra dish to prepare in advance if you have a vegetarian guest coming to dinner.
You can easily transfer another favorite stuffed pepper recipe to your slow cooker. Just make sure, if you add meat, to adjust the cooking time to make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked. And if you are cooking for me, please skip the green peppers!
Made with fresh or dried oregano, garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, cannellini beans, feta cheese, kalamata olives, couscous, scallions
Serves/Makes: 4
- 4 large bell peppers
- 2 small ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced OR
- 1 can (15 ounce size) chopped tomatoes, drained
- 1 can (15 ounce size) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 10 kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 4 scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh or dried oregano, chopped
- kosher salt and ground pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
Slice a thin layer from the base of each bell pepper so they sit flat in the bottom of your slow cooker. Slice off pepper tops just below stem. Discard stems, chop tops, and place in a medium bowl. Remove ribs and seeds from each pepper, leaving whole.
Add tomatoes, beans, feta cheese, olives, couscous, white parts of scallion, garlic, and oregano to bowl with chopped pepper. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.
Stuff peppers with bean mixture. Place upright in slow cooker and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low 6-8 hours.
Garnish peppers with scallion greens and serve.
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1 comments
Just a note to remind anyone looking to cook stuffed bell peppers with any type of ground meat: the meat must be pre-cooked prior to stuffing your bell peppers for crock pot cooking if you want the end result to more closely approximate the browning effect of cooking them in an oven! Here's how I do mine: 1) Chop the desired amount of garlic or combination of onions and garlic-about a half a cup or so per pound of meat to be cooked. 2) place the meat in a skillet and cook while periodically stirring until halfway browned, add the chopped garlic or combination of onions and garlic. 3) Lightly sprinkle your choice of about a teaspoon or so of salt with a half teaspoon of black pepper or 4-5 twists of a pepper grinder for fresh ground pepper, optional tablespoon per pound of meat Lea and Perrin's or other steak sauce, a dash of Tabasco or other hot sauce such as Sriracha, 2-3 light sprinklings of optional onion powder, dried chives, oregano or even a tablespoon or so of dried parsley and stir until distributed along with the mixture you are browning. If you choose ro use Lawry's seasoning salt vs. plain salt, just sprinkle lightly 2 or 3 times across the mixture along with optional black pepper, Lea and Perrin's or other steak sauce, dash of Tabasco or Sriracha hot sauce, oregano and chives and continue to stir until lightly browned. Let the mixture cool by emptying it into a glass bowl or a clean pot with a half to 3/4 cup of pre-cooked rice per pound of meat, stir with a spoon or spatula until evenly mixed (allow to cool for about 15 minutes before handling) or just use an ice cream scooper to scoop up and fill the bell peppers using a spoon or spatula to gently and evenly press into the bell peppers as you stuff them if the mixture is too hot to touch before putting your stuffed bell peppers in the crock pot with your choice of topping of ketchup or spaghetti sauce spread over the top of each before cooking. Once they are thoroughly cooked, remove to serve and add a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese over the top if you prefer! Enjoy!
Comment posted by Debbie
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