Market to Table - October 15, 2009

After picking a zillion peppers from the backyard over the last month, it finally happened. I mean, up until Friday, all the peppers I've picked have been delicious, but didn't have that beautiful green pepper from the grocery store look - but hey, it's taste that counts, right?

Then, as I was inspecting my pepper plants, I saw it. The most beautiful pepper ever, right there on my green pepper plant. Could it be? A pepper worthy of stuffing?

And so it was... time to make stuffed peppers.

SGF Spicy Stuffed Peppers

Filling:

• 1 pint of salsa
• 1 pint of corn
• 3-1/2 cups veggie broth (I used broth from steaming veggies plus some of the liquid from the home-canned corn)
• 2 cups of rice, uncooked
• 2 cups pinto beans, cooked

Pour the veggie broth, 2 cups of uncooked rice, and the pint of salsa in a saucepan. Bring to a

boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes. When the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, stir in the corn and pinto beans (mine were soaked and cooked the day before, or you can use canned if you have it on hand) and stir until mixed.

Then core your peppers from the top (it's hard to say how many it will fill because it depends on how big the peppers are, but you have 4 cups of cooked rice plus veggies so probably 6-8 large peppers) and remove the seeds. Stuff each pepper with filling, set on a cookie sheet or in a casserole dish, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

That's all there is to it. And you can make it yours by adding meat or cheese or other veggie combinations. Have fun!

Local food note: In this recipe, everything was local except the pinto beans, which I bought dry an in bulk from the local grocers. The peppers came from the backyard, the corn was bought from the farmers' market and canned over the summer, the salsa was from the farmer's market as well, and the rice was from Alvin, Texas (RiceSelect).

Let's see, this week I also nibbled on some sweet potatoes harvested from the backyard, the rest of the local watermelon, and I made veggie sandwiches, taking my homemade whole wheat bread (honey and whole wheat are local), slathered with homemade vegan pesto (basil from the backyard), and topped with green onion, green pepper, and raw zucchini slices (backyard, backyard, and farmers' market). What a week!