Stuffed Peppers

Unlike the typical 9 to 5 job, I work 4-10 hour days.  The days are undeniably long, but a weekly 3-day weekend more than makes up for my intense workweek.  It’s like a weekly mini-vacation.  My favorite part of my three-day weekend is Sunday.  Not working on Mondays, Sunday has been transformed from a somber, stressful affair, focused on preparing for the workweek, into a relaxing and delightful day.  I spend most of my Sunday evenings hunkered down at a good friend’s house in Denver, sipping vodka, eating antipasto, and verbally dissecting the world at large.  Our Sunday meal is typically low maintenance; however, this Sunday, my friend expressed a hankering for stuffed peppers, which I have never made before, and I quickly accepted the challenge, and the change of pace.

When I went to the store, red bell peppers just happened to be on sale, and the whole scenario seemed meant to be.  I went with an Italian theme for the peppers.  I didn’t grow up eating them, so I wasn’t exactly sure what the traditional flavor profile would be, so I chose the direction I know and love best: Italian.  I used ground beef, sausage, rice, tomatoes, basil, onions, garlic, pesto, and, of course, cheese.  I chose a combination of ground beef and sausage because I felt that sausage exclusively would be too fatty and rich; a lot of pasta sauces have both in them, so why not my stuffed peppers?  It turned out lovely, but I will warn you to make sure your stuffing is well seasoned.  The stuffing seasons the actual pepper, in addition to the filling, so over-seasoning a tad is wise.   I used diced tomatoes and a can of sauce for tomato products, but a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste added to the beef and onions would work well; despite the double hit of tomato, a little more would have brought warmly welcomed depth of flavor.  Cheese, glorious cheese, was naturally a pivotal ingredient, and it renders the pepper filling a complete dish in and of itself (we gleefully ate spoonfuls from the pan).  The peppers are stuffed, put in a baking dish with a touch of chicken broth (white wine would also be nice), and sealed with foil before baking.  When they are just about done, they are blanketed in cheese, and broiled.  I chose a combination of mozzarella and asiago, but a sticking solely with a young asiago would be lip-smacking good.  Pick your poison.   

Stuffed Peppers

1/2 lb. ground sirloin

1/2 lb. mild Italian sausage

1 cup rice

2 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups shredded cheese (such as mozzarella, asiago, parmesan, or a combination)

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

6-ounce can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup good quality pesto

1/4 cup basil chiffonade

4-6 bell peppers

Salt, pepper, red chile flakes, oregano

-       Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-       Prepare rice by adding it to 2 cups of simmering chicken stock.  Cover and simmer for 15-20, lifting lid as little as possible.  Set aside when finished.

-       Prepare peppers by cutting of the top, and removing seeds and large ribs.  Set aside in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

-       Preheat a large skillet over medium heat with oil.  Add ground beef and sausage, breaking up chunks with a wooden spoon or spatula.

-       When meat is broken up and beginning to brown, drain excess fat.  Then add onion and minced garlic.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and red chile flakes (about 1/2 teaspoon of each, maybe more salt, and little less hot pepper flakes).  Cook until onion and meat is cooked through, stirring occasionally.

-       Add rice, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce (if you want it more tomato-y in flavor, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste with the onions).  Stir to combine, taste, and re-season. 

-       Turn off heat and add basil, pesto, and 1/2 the cheese.

-       Fill each of the peppers until heaping with rice and tomato mixture.  This recipe makes enough for about 6 medium-sized peppers, and the rice mixture also is very tasty on its own.

-       Place filled peppers, standing up, in the baking dish, and add remaining chicken broth (or better yet, white wine).  Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

-       Bake for 30-35 minutes.  Remove peppers from the oven, and turn on the broiler.  Put remaining cheese on each pepper, then place under the broiler until browned and bubbling.

Bacon and Vegetable Fried Rice

Fried rice is a delectable treat, usually reserved for otherwise-boring leftover rice.  However, seeing that rice takes a mere 15-20 minutes on the stove, I have no problem whipping some up when the mood for its fried variation attacks.  Besides, there is plenty of chopping and sautéing to do in the meantime.

Fried rice is a vehicle for practically any lingering vegetable you may have in your refrigerator.  The recipe below is merely a guideline.  Carrots, celery, scallions, spinach, watercress, corn (fresh or frozen), cauliflower, and zucchini would all be welcome additions.  The version below may also be grossly simplified with satisfying results:  I’ve made fried rice with just garlic, soy sauce, egg, and frozen peas as add-ins.  Despite my excessive detail, my point is that fried rice is versatile, and may be easily adjusted to both your tastes and the contents of your refrigerator.  However, I do feel the following ingredients are mandatory in addition to rice: garlic, soy sauce, egg, and some sort of vegetable.  This combination provides crucial elements in the domains of both flavor and texture.  The tender egg is particularly delightful, and it provides substance. 

Protein in addition to the egg is purely optional, but fried rice can breathe new life into less-than-thrilling leftover chicken, beef, etc.  The sky’s the limit in this regard.  I usually use leftover chicken, but last night, I had a hankering for bacon.  While bacon is by no means obligatory, I feel the need to sing its praises as key player in this dish.  The chewy, salty, smoky pieces dispersed throughout the rice were a pure joy.  But then again, when is bacon not a joy?  If you want to make the recipe below, and you happen to suffer from pork aversion or vegetarianism, skip the first step, and sauté your vegetables in light colored oil, instead of bacon grease.  Also, if you feel so inclined, a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger would be lovely added with the garlic.  A drizzle of toasted sesame oil wouldn’t hurt at the end.  About a half teaspoon would be a nice touch, without overpowering the other delicious flavors (like bacon!)  I may be providing far too many options and modifications, but this is the reality of fried rice.  My advice to you:  be decisive, go forth and fry some up. 

Bacon (and Vegetable) Fried Rice

3 slices of bacon (about ¼ lb.)

½ onion, diced

½ red bell pepper, diced

6 mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Medium head of broccoli, chopped into small florets

½ cup frozen peas (no need to thaw)

3 cups cooked rice (white or brown)

2 large eggs, scrambled

Soy sauce (probably about 2 tablespoons)

Oyster sauce (probably about 2 teaspoons)

Black pepper

Sriracha hot sauce, to taste (optional)

-       Preheat a large non-stick pan over medium heat.  Add bacon to the hot pan, and sauté until crisp.  Remove from the pan to a plate lined with paper towel.  When cool, coarsely chop the bacon.

-       Carefully remove all but 2-3 tablespoons of the remaining bacon grease (when in doubt, go with less; you can always add some oil later if need be).  Add the onion and bell pepper.  Season with about 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and black pepper.  Sauté until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

-       Add mushrooms.  Allow to cook until they start to give off liquid and begin to brown (about 5 minutes).  Add garlic.

-       Meanwhile, par-cook the broccoli: place the chopped broccoli in a microwave safe bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap, leaving one side vented.  Microwave on high for a minute and a half.

-       Add the broccoli to the pan.  Stir to combine and season with about 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and more black pepper.  Allow to cook for about 2 minutes.

-       Add rice, peas, and bacon to the pan.  Season with more soy sauce, oyster sauce, and Sriracha (if using).  Stir fry everything together for 3-5 minutes, or until everything is heated through.

-       Move rice mixture to one side of the pan, and add the eggs.  Allow to set for a minute, then scramble them until cooked through.  (See pictures above).  Mix the eggs into the fried rice.

-       Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce and Sriracha if needed. 

Mujadra

April is not exactly a joyous time of year for graduate students.  The weather is getting nicer, yet the time you spend studying only increases.  At this juncture, I feel like I worry so excessively about school that I absolutely refuse to worry about how I’m going to be fed.  During times like these, I want to have a big pot of food in my refrigerator, on call for the demands of my stomach.  Mujadra is perfect for such desperate circumstances.  In a nutshell, it is vegetarian, Middle Eastern, comfort food.  It also happens to be nutritious and dirt-cheap.  It consists of just a handful of ingredients: lentils and rice, seasoned with sautéed onions and cumin, all cooked together in stock.  I prefer chicken stock, but of course vegetable stock is would work, as well.  According to the recipe, you can also use water, but I cannot vouch for that. 

I understand if you think it sounds boring.  In fact, I’ll admit it: it sounds boring.  However, it happens to be so delicious and satisfying.  I’m not sure what happens in that pot while it cooks, but there must be little magicians housed in those lentils because somehow that boring ingredient list creates a sum that is much greater than its parts.  Give your mujadra a generous spritz of fresh lemon (or top with caramelized onions if you have the time), and enjoy this simple pleasure, that’s both easy on your stomach and your pocket.  The leftovers will provide abundant repeat performances. 

Mujadra (recipe courtesy of my mom)

1 cup dried lentils (I prefer green French lentils, but my mom always uses brown lentils)

1 cup white rice

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ teaspoons ground cumin

4 cups stock or water (I use two 14 oz. cans of chicken stock and make up the difference with water)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Lemon wedges or carmelized onions, for garnish

·      In a large pot over medium heat, lightly sauté onion in olive oil until tender, but not brown (about 10 minutes). 

·      Add lentils and sauté for 1 minute, so that lentils are evenly coated with the olive oil.  Add 4 cups liquid of choice and bring to a boil.

·      Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes (25-30 minutes in the mountains).

·      Add rice, cumin, a big pinch of salt, and lots of pepper.

·      Simmer, covered, for 25 - 40 minutes until tender.

·      Serve with lemon wedges or caramelized onions. 

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Sunday was a dreary day in Boulder.  This is rare.  Bright, sunny days are common.  Snowy days are common, too, but fluffy, fluttering snowflakes aren’t exactly dreary.  Sunday was dreary: gray and wet, with patchy clouds over the mountains.  I was experiencing an insatiable hunger that I personally feel is the responsibility of a newly implemented exercise program.  I spent most of the day with my cousin.  And at some point, between the insatiable hunger, which I spoke of incessantly, and the dreariness, my cousin stated, “I feel like something casserole-ish.”  With the word, “casserole-ish,” my heart soared, and I knew I had a culinary date with destiny. 

So, I embraced my inner-Paul Dean, and began to brainstorm.  Chicken was mandatory, as well as a token carbohydrate to soak up the creamy goodness of canned soup.  I decided to be a traditionalist with plain, old, long grain, white rice.  Condensed canned soup is, of course, an unavoidable component of a bona fide casserole.  Luckily for the sake of my arteries, Campbell’s Healthy Request Soups are an excellent reduced fat item.  In fact, this product graces my mother’s green bean casserole at Thanksgiving, and no one complains.  I went with cream of mushroom.  I really loved the flavors of my chicken/vegetable/couscous concoction (see previous post), thus red pepper, onion, garlic, and broccoli made a repeat performance.  But, just to prevent myself from being a total bore, I threw in some button mushrooms to echo the delicate flavor of the cream of mushroom soup [note the sarcasm]. 

And in case you ever had a shadow of a doubt regarding the appearance of a truly fresh mushroom, please see the above photo.  Note the milky-brown color of the inner curvature, and the tightly attached gills.  I rue the man that attempts to state that such a mushroom isn’t a complete and utter vision of loveliness.  This is not to say that mushrooms in less than perfect condition are not of use; we lowly civilians have little control of the powers that be when it comes to the market.  However, when you do come across such a perfect specimen, it would be sin not to make the purchase.  That final, editorial comment will serve to conclude my mushroom tirade, and we will now return to the regularly scheduled program. 

Chicken and Mushroom Casserole

2 ½ cups of cooked white rice

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (try Campbell’s Healthy Request)

½ cup reduced-sodium chicken stock

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 half chicken breast (at least ½ pound)

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ small onion, thinly sliced

½ red bell pepper, diced

1 medium broccoli crown, chopped into florets (I also included some of the stalk, thinly sliced)

6 large or 8 small button mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 ½ cups shredded Colby-jack cheese (or other luscious cheese that melts like a dream)

·      Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

·      In the absence of left over rice, put 2 cups of water, 1 cup of rice, and a pinch of salt in a pot over high heat.  When it comes to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer until just shy of cooked through (it will finish in the oven).  Up in the mountains, it took about 20 minutes.  Then set aside 2 ½ cups of cooked rice, or use it all.  I doubt that extra rice would hurt the final product. 

·      Preheat a large skillet and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.  Meanwhile, season the chicken breast with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Add seasoned chicken to the skillet and allow to cook through, about 8-10 minutes on each side.  Flip as few times as possible for proper browning (Tip:  I actually set timers to make sure I leave things alone so they can brown, but also to prevent burning).

·      When the chicken is cooked through, set aside.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil, bell pepper, and onion to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. 

·      Allow to cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 3-5 minutes.  Then add garlic and mushrooms.  Re-season, and allow to cook until mushrooms start to give off liquid. 

·      Par-cook broccoli for 1 minute in the microwave.  [Note:  I am including this step because I did it, but I would skip it next time.  The broccoli has plenty of time to cook in the oven.]

·      Whisk together condensed soup and chicken broth; chop chicken into chunks. 

·      Add rice, chicken, soup mixture, chopped parsley, and broccoli to the pan of vegetables.  Stir to combine, and transfer to an 8x8 inch baking dish.

·      Top with shredded cheese, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbling and beautiful. 

Comments:  Delicious!  In all seriousness, unless you are a total food snob (which you are entitled to be, if you wish), this is a pretty likeable potion.  Next time, I would not par-cook the broccoli.  It was perfectly edible, but a little crispness would have been nice, especially for reheating purposes.  Also, while I was dreaming this meal up, I toyed with the idea of brown rice, over white.  Ultimately, I felt that it would be too “healthy” tasting, and chose white rice.  Clearly, I had temporarily lost my mind when making this decision because I love brown rice, and, in hindsight, I feel the added texture would have only boosted the dish to a new level.  Despite these minor criticisms, I would make and eat this again.  And in fact, I did eat it again, for a few post-workout lunches, and miraculously, it seems to be a viable cure for my exercise-induced insatiable hunger.   

Making Do

I don’t want to be off-putting about cooking.  Some people may say I'm a food snob, which I can't completely deny.  However, I do have Maruchan chicken-flavor ramen noodles in my cupboard, for when the mood is right.  I may doctor them up a bit, but they reside here nonetheless.  Monday night’s dinner was lacking in both snobbery and excitement.  It’s important for people to know that even a “foodie”** approaches dinner lightly in the context of a long day.  When I tumbled into my apartment after a twelve-hour day at school, I combined my exhaustion and my leftovers into the following convoluted, yet satisfying meal:

Appetizer:

-       Vodka on the rocks

o   This is actually a fairly regular “appetizer” at my place.  It stimulates the appetite, like the perfect appetizer should.  I recommend Svedka for a clean, yet reasonably priced vodka.

Entrée:

-       2 large spoonfuls of last night’s curry, cold (the next post will address said curry).

-       About ¾ of a cup of leftover rice pilaf, microwaved.

o   To this, I added a drizzle of spicy oil from a jar of hot pickled peppers and vegetables (jardinière).

o   Then a sprinkle of Lawry’s garlic salt.

o   Finally, a moderate-sized handful of shredded mozzarella (leftover from last week’s baked pasta; otherwise I would have used parmesan, which I always have on hand).

Honestly, I loved every bite; the vodka didn’t hurt either.  I don’t expect anyone to recreate this meal, myself included.  However, do not underestimate the contents of your kitchen, or your instincts.  Food doesn’t always have to be a vision of loveliness to go down easy.  

**Regarding the term "foodie":  I dislike this term for reasons I find difficult to verbalize.  However, I sort of epitomize the concept, so I use the term from time to time for lack of a better word .