arabic desserts: Peppers

Showing posts with label Peppers. Show all posts

Oven Roasted Vegetables

Now that the days are turning cooler, we get to enjoy one of my all-time favorite ways to eat veggies – roasted.

Trust me on this one, roasting veggies makes them taste incredible. I don’t know why (I’m sure some food chemist could tell me), but they taste amazing – rich, full of flavor. Choose your favorite veggies, or go with the one’s I’ve listed here.

Happy roasting!

Oven-Roasted Vegetables – Finding Joy in My Kitchen
Ingredients

Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 medium summer squash
1 medium zucchini
2 bell peppers
4 oz. mushrooms
4 Roma tomatoes

Directions

Line 1-2 half sheet-cake pans with tinfoil. Lightly spray each with olive oil. Then, dice up all your veggies into 1-inch segments. Arrange them over the top of the trays, all except the tomatoes.

Spritz liberally with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the veggie trays at 450 for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, and continue roasting for 10-12 additional minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Serve warm, as a side dish, or on top of rice.

Enjoy!

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Deconstructed Pizza Kebabs

Looking for a fun and different end-of-summer dinner? Then I recommend deconstructed pizza kebabs.

Easy to make, fun to eat, and great for leftovers.

Deconstructed Pizza Kebabs – Inspired by Erin of $5 Dinners

Ingredients

4-6 Italian sausage links
Beer or water for boiling
2 medium red/orange bell peppers
1 medium green bell pepper
1 sweet Vidalia onion
8 oz. mushrooms
Italian seasoning (we recommend Mrs. Dash, salt free)
Cheddar cheese
Quick pizza sauce

Directions

Begin by boiling your Italian sausages. You can do this either in 1 can of beer or in 2 C water. Boil for 10 minutes, rinse.

Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables by cutting them into cubes about 1-inch in size. Toss all of them in a large bowl and spritz with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

Spread veggies into a grill basket. We typically line ours with tinfoil, lightly sprayed with olive oil. Grill over medium heat for 20-25 minutes until veggies are crisp tender. Stir every 5-6 minutes during that cooking time. Sprinkle 1-2 T cheese over the top just before serving.

Place the Italian sausages on a grill heated to medium. Grill for 15 minutes, turning every 5, or until the sausages have a great grill look and are done in the center.

Warm up your pizza sauce.

To serve, slice up the Italian sausage links into rounds, serve with veggies and top with cheese and pizza sauce.

Enjoy!

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Breakfast Stuffed Peppers

These yummy bell peppers made for a great start to the day. They were easy to put together, and the leftovers were delicious too.

If you’re looking for a hearty back-to-school breakfast that relies on fresh garden produce, this is just for you!

Breakfast Stuffed Peppers – Inspired from Mama Nibbles
Serves 2-3

Ingredients

2 red bell peppers
2 strips bacon, cooked
1 tsp. minced onion
1/8 C crushed frozen spinach
1/2 small summer squash
6-8 grape or cherry tomatoes
Extra sharp white cheddar cheese, to taste
Salt and pepper
2 eggs
1/2 C milk

Directions

Begin by slicing the bell peppers in half and removing the core and seeds. Place bell peppers onto a lightly greased, and tinfoil lined cookie sheet, open side up.

Quarter half of a summer squash and slice the grape tomatoes into rounds. Combine in a microwave safe bowl and season with salt, pepper and minced onion. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir and microwave for 30 seconds more.

Meanwhile, chop up the cooked bacon and divide it evenly between the four bell pepper halves. Sprinkle some cheese on top. Divide 1/8 C frozen chopped spinach among the bell peppers as well.

Fill the bell peppers with the squash and tomato mixture. You’ll want to make sure the bell peppers are nice and level, so use little balls of tinfoil, if needed, to level out the peppers. This will help prevent run-off in the next step.

Whip the eggs and mix in 1/2 C milk. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour about 1/4 C of the egg mixture into each bell pepper. Top with additional cheese.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

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Crockpot Italian Chicken Sandwiches

This is a simple sandwich, great for summer, because you don’t have to turn the oven on, or even use the griddle or stovetop.

Toss the ingredients in the crockpot in the morning, and 4-5 hours later, you can have a delicious lunch.

Crockpot Italian Chicken Sandwiches – Adapted from Shugary Sweets

Ingredients

4 Whole Wheat buns
2 Chicken Breasts
1 medium red bell pepper, diced finely
3 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 C fresh spinach (or 10-12 oz. frozen spinach)
2 garlic cloves, minced
Extra sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

Place the chicken breasts into a lightly greased crockpot. Season with 3 tsp. Italian seasoning and 2 minced garlic cloves. Cover and cook on high for about 4 hours, until chicken reaches 180 degrees.

About 20 minutes before the chicken is done, finely dice up the bell peppers. Sauté them in a skillet until crisp-tender.

Shred the chicken using two forks or your mixer.

Add in the spinach and bell pepper and cook on high for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle or layer cheese over the top of half of your whole wheat bun. Top with chicken mixture.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

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Crockpot Breakfast Egg Casserole

While on vacation, I decided to try a new breakfast recipe.

Feeding 10 adults, all very hungry in the morning, and trying a new recipe?!

I know.

I’m a bit crazy.

But, I knew the basis of the recipe came from a trusted source: Tiffany of Eat at Home. I found her slow-cooker breakfast casserole recipe and thought I could easily modify it for our dietary needs.

So, the night before I prepped the breakfast and the first family up with a baby popped the crockpot in and turned it on to high for 4 hours.

When the rest of us woke up, breakfast was ready.

And, it was delicious.

Crockpot Breakfast Egg Casserole – Adapted from Eat At Home
Serves about 10-12.

Ingredients

50-60-oz of shredded potatoes/hashbrowns
12 eggs
1 C milk
16 oz. frozen broccoli
2-3 medium bell peppers
1 medium sweet onion
4 oz. shredded Colby Jack cheese
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

Begin by slicing the bell peppers into thin strips. Slice the onion into rings and then in half. Saute the peppers and onions in a bit of olive oil until crisp tender. Better yet, plan to use leftovers (that’s what we did on our vacation; I tossed in the leftover fajita fixings). You can easily use peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, tomatoes, etc!

Lightly grease a 6 quart crockpot with olive oil spray. Place 1 package (about 30 oz) of shredded potatoes in the bottom of the crockpot. We used a brand of frozen shredded potatoes that contained only potatoes!! You could also make up your own hashbrowns for this dish.

Layer half of the broccoli and veggies over the top.

Top with half of the remaining potatoes. Then, layer the remaining veggies over the top. Top off the crockpot with the remaining potatoes.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the fridge and place inside the crockpot. Meanwhile, beat 12 eggs together and season with salt & pepper. Add in 1 C milk and stir well.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes.

Top with shredded cheese.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

Serve warm.

**Note: you can prepare the whole thing the night before, and cook on low all night long for 8 hours.

Enjoy!

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Mom’s Old Fashioned Potato Salad

Every summer I look forward to my mom’s potato salad.

She got the recipe from the best man in my parents’ wedding (well, his wife, actually). It’s been a family favorite as long as I can remember.

Mom’s Old Fashioned Potato Salad – From the Braunwarths

Ingredients

1 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 T vinegar
1 T mustard
1 tsp. salt & pepper (more or less, to taste)
3 T mayo (we use olive oil mayo)
3 T whipping cream
1/2 C chopped onion
1/2 C chopped celery
1/2 C chopped red or green bell pepper
2-3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
4 C diced potatoes
3-4 sprigs of chives, chopped

Directions

Begin by peeling and dicing potatoes, until you have about 4 C. Cubed potatoes or sliced potatoes (about 1/4-1/2 inch thick) cut into quarters work well. We’ve been using the Yukon Yellow Gold potatoes recently and they have been very tasty in this potato salad. Boil the potatoes in well-salted water until tender. Drain. Cool.

Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, celery and red bell pepper until you have about 1/2 C of each. If you are like me and need to eat “cooked” veggies, blanch the veggies in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, and then chill in ice water. Drain and pat dry. Then, add the veggies to a large refrigerator safe, covered bowl. If you don’t need to cook the veggies, than just add them immediately to the bowl.

Combine the 1 1/2 T sugar and vinegar in a smaller bowl. Stir well. Add in 1 T mustard, 3 T mayo and 3 T cream.

Peel and chop the egg. To make the salad healthier, use three eggs – but only use the egg whites from each egg.

When potatoes are cooled, add them to the bowl with the veggies. Stir well.

Pour the vinegar sauce over the top. Stir well.

Stir in the chopped hard boiled eggs and chives.

Season with salt & pepper.

Enjoy!

**Note: If you don’t like celery, omit and use all bell peppers. If you don’t like bell peppers, omit and use all celery!

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Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers

These wild rice stuffed peppers were a hit at our house last week.

They were filling, tasty and easy to make.

While they made a great meal on their own, I couldn’t help but think how great they would taste on Thanksgiving Day as a side dish.

Yum-o. `

Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers – Inspired by Kate in the Kitchen

Ingredients

4 medium red bell peppers
1 C uncooked wild rice
1 (14 oz) can Great White Northern Beans, rinsed & drained
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 – 2 C fresh spinach
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 T minced onion
2 oz. shredded cheese, Mozzarella preferred
4-5 T Parmesan cheese

Directions

Begin by preparing your wild rice; first rinse the grains, then add water as recommended on the package. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and simmer until rice is tender (usually about 50 minutes). I made my wild rice 1 day ahead of time, which make the prep for this dinner so easy.

Meanwhile, slice open the bell peppers and remove the core. Place the peppers cut-side down on a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil and lightly sprayed with olive oil.

Bake the peppers for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. You want the peppers to begin to soften and roast, but don’t want to burn them.

Remove from the oven.

*Note: if you are in a hurry, broil the peppers for 5 minutes, then turn your oven down to 400 and get ready to fill the peppers. Just watch carefully so they don’t burn!

While the peppers roast, heat a little olive oil with the minced onion and garlic; toast until fragrant. Then, add the wild rice, diced tomatoes and great white northern beans.