16 August 2007

CSA Week 11 - A Surfeit of Peppers

After last week's CSA pick-up, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed - could we eat all the vegetables in a week? But we plunged forward and used almost everything up in: ratatouille, a huge frittata, stuffed peppers with the green peppers from weeks 9 & 10, swiss chard in everything, salads, a big bowl of gazpacho and I can't remember what else. By Wednesday morning, all we had left was a bit of basil (which I gave to the cook at Miss M's daycare), a bit of cilantro (which I gave to Miss M's grandmother, thinking I'd get more this week), and enough lettuce for a small salad.

I confess to being a little stymied this week - we now own 11 peppers of three different varieties. Corn, string beans, tomatoes, salad, even the swiss chard - easy. All those peppers? I dunno. Stuffed peppers again, I guess.

  • Sweet Corn (4 ears)
  • Green Beans
  • Onions (2)
  • Garlic (1 head)
  • Banana Bill Peppers (6 - hot)
  • Italia Peppers (3 - long red sweet)
  • Bell Peppers (2 - green)
  • Juliet Tomatoes (pint)
  • Beefsteak Tomatoes (quart)
  • Swiss Chard
  • Salad Mix
  • Basil
  • Cilantro (well, we should have had cilantro, but W. "forgot" to get it)

Here's a sketch as to stuffed peppers - it's a stretch to call it a recipe:

Take four peppers and cut the tops off so that they can be reused as hats for the peppers. Clean out the white ribs and the seeds. Meanwhile, chop and saute a small onion. Toss some chopped swiss chard in with the onion until it wilts (that is, if you have swiss chard around needing to be put in something). Oh, and toss some minced garlic in there too. Whack up a small tomato. Mix half a pound of ground lamb (or beef) with the tomato, the onion/chard/garlic, and 1/3 cup uncooked white rice. Add salt and pepper. Add some minced fresh herbs if you've got them. Stuff this mixture into the peppers and put their hats back on. Use the smallest baking dish you can fit them in. You'll need some liquid, about a cup: a mix of tomato juice, wine, lemon juice and olive oil would be nice. Not too much oil or acidity. Pour your liquid over everything and cover the baking dish with foil (or its lid, if it has one). Bake at 400° F for about a half hour, then uncover and bake for another half hour. Serve warm, not hot.

11 comments:

Maewen Archer said...

I love the challenge of deciding what to make with a bunch of veggies. As for the peppers, I usually just add a little to everything I make -- nice for flavor.

niobe said...

Reading this post gives me an incredible sense of nostalgia. My mother used to make a very similar stuffed pepper recipe, something I hadn't thought of in years.

pinknest said...

oh god stuffed peppers!! i so want one. my mom used to make them when i was growing up, and i haven't really had one since.

flutter said...

This sounds fabulous, completely

S said...

Yeah, how come stuffed peppers have fallen out of favor relative to their heyday in the seventies?

What's up with that?

Now I'm a little hungry.

Girlplustwo said...

i have never in my life had a stuffed pepper.

i fear i am missing out.

Liz Miller said...

Roast them peppers and put them in olive oil in a jar in the fridge and then add them to sandwiches, scrambled eggs, the tops of carmelized onion tarts, or a risotto.

Aurelia said...

I love stuffed peppers. Yum!

Liz's idea sounds yummy though.

Jennifer (ponderosa) said...

I am so, so, so envious of your CSA. I'm in a CSA, but it's limited to what will grow in Central Oregon, which isn't much. So far this year I've had ONE tomato! and not a single pepper.

Tomatoes do grow here (I have a few plants in pots on my deck) but appear so late & are so frost-sensitive that it must not be cost-effective for them. I get an awful lot of greens!

Anonymous said...

I just love stuffed peppers!

Yours sound like da bomb.

BipolarLawyerCook said...

Like Liz, I was thinking roasted peppers, but then I was thinking to combine them with couscous or bulgur, other veggies, and feta for a lunchtime-y salad.