Tag Archives: green bell pepper

Beef and Beets Stir Fry

What a week! It was busy, full of ups and downs, but, in the end, overall positive. The best news is that I was accepted into an online Doctor of Nursing Practice program!

In all the craziness, we also had our first frost on Friday night. The red bell peppers in my garden mostly didn’t ripen, but green peppers are good, too. I spent most of Saturday afternoon prepping vegetables-the last of the peppers from the garden, plus everything I got in our CSA box on Friday. We picked all the ripe tomatoes, and I’m covering the plants in the hopes of getting a few more to ripen. Amazingly, the squash plants that I thought were done have started producing again, so maybe we will get a few more decent sized ones. The weather is supposed to warm up again.

Beef and Beets Stir Fry

I was so excited to see that the farm left the tops on our beets this week. (Usually, they cut them off and use them for their juicing box.) I immediately decided to make a stir fry. I found a Thai Basil stir fry sauce in the Oriental foods section at the grocery store, and it gave this an amazing flavor! My husband says this is “a keeper.”

Beef and Beets Stir Fry
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Oriental
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 pound sirloin, thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 5 beets, roots peeled and cut into matchsticks, greens washed and trimmed
  • 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • ¾ cup Thai Basil stir fry sauce
  • 2 cups cooked rice
Instructions
  1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in wok. Stir fry sirloin and garlic until meat is desired doneness. Remove from wok.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the wok. Add beet roots and carrots, stir fry until the vegetables start to soften, about 7 minutes.
  3. Add onion and bell pepper to the wok. Continue to stir fry about 3 minutes.
  4. Add beet greens, stir fry until greens are wilted and vegetables are tender-crisp.
  5. Return beef to pan, stir fry to combine.
  6. Pour stir fry sauce over, continue to stir fry until sauce is heated through. Serve over rice.

 

Black Bean Quesadillas

If you have been following my blog for a long time, you might recognize this recipe. This was one of the first green chile recipes I shared, back in 2011. My food photography is getting better, so I’ve decided to re-post some of my older recipes with new (hopefully more appealing) photographs.

Black Bean Quesadillas

These quesadillas are really easy to prepare. They are also a great way to sneak some vegetables into your diet!

Black Bean Quesadillas
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Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 small zucchini, finely chopped
  • 1 small yellow summer squash, finely chopped
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • ½ cup green chile, chopped
  • 8 whole wheat tortillas
  • 1½ cups shredded fat free cheddar cheese
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and onion. Saute until the vegetables start to get soft.
  2. Add black beans and chile. Continue cooking until the beans are heated through. Remove from heat.
  3. Spray both sides of an indoor grill with non stick cooking spray. Place a tortilla on the bottom plate of the grill. Top with ¼ cup cheese, then ¾ cup of the vegetable mixture. Top with another ⅛ cup cheese. Place a second tortilla on top. Lower the top plate and cook for 3-5 minutes, until golden brown. (You can also cook in a skillet on the stove, flipping the quesadilla half way through.)
  4. Remove quesadilla and cut into wedges with a pizza cutter. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

 

Stuffed Patty Pans

We have only 2 patty pan squash plants in the garden, but we have had a nice supply of squash. They have mostly come from one of the plants, but the one I thought was dead actually came back to life and has produced a couple of nice squash.

Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

This was another of my “make ahead” recipes. I made the stuffing on the weekend, and then stuffed the squash and baked them during the week. One of the nice things about this squash is that the skin is edible, too!

Stuffed Patty Pans
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • ½ pound ground turkey
  • ½ of a medium onion, chopped
  • 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon basil
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • ½ cup shredded Romano cheese
  • 4 patty pan squash
Instructions
  1. Brown ground turkey in a large skillet. As the turkey browns, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. (If you want to make this ahead, stop at this point and refrigerate the filling.)
  2. Once the turkey is browned, add tomato and heat through. Remove from heat. Add cheese. (If you are making ahead, add the tomato to the filling and microwave a few minutes to reheat. Then add cheese.)
  3. Cut the tops off the squash. Scoop out the seeds. Divide the filling mixture among the squash. Place in a baking pan. Cover.
  4. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, until squash is soft.

 

Fajita Foil Dinners

I had planned to make these on our last camping trip. Unfortunately, I forgot the foil, so I ended up putting everything in the Dutch oven instead. (Worked pretty well, actually!) Since we were getting bell peppers in our box this week, I decided to get limes, too, and try it at home. Potatoes aren’t a traditional fajita ingredient, but I can’t fathom a foil dinner without them.

Foil Fajita Dinners

You could slice the chicken and serve in a tortilla. However, I was too lazy to do that, so we just put the salsa on top. (Also, trying to watch carbs here; didn’t think we needed potatoes and tortillas.) It was raining, so I ended up cooking them on the gas grill instead of our fire pit, so the cooking time might be a little off.

Fajita Foil Dinners
Recipe type: Main, Camping
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Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 limes
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 bell peppers, sliced
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1 pound thin skinned potatoes, diced
  • Your favorite fajita toppings
Instructions
  1. Zest one lime, juice both limes. Combine lime juice and zest, oil, garlic, and cumin in a zip top bag. Add chicken. Marinate overnight.
  2. Heat coals or preheat grill. Tear 4 sheets of heavy duty, wide aluminum foil about 5 feet long, fold in half crosswise. Spray one side with non-stick cooking spray. Divide chicken breasts, peppers, onion, and potatoes among the 4 dinners. Drugstore wrap each packet.
  3. Cook for 25-30 minutes, turning half way through. Serve with your favorite fajita toppings.

 

Crock Pot “Shish Kebobs”

We had family in from out of town recently, and I had planned to make shish kebobs while they were visiting. Unfortunately, they left earlier than I planned. I needed to use up all the parts, but didn’t want to go through all the effort of making kebobs just for my husband and me, so I decided to put everything in the crock pot instead. The sauce recipe is a marinade from The Settlement Cookbook.

Crock Pot Shish Kebobs

Crock Pot "Shish Kebobs"
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
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Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 pound beef stew meat
  • 1 onion, cut in large chunks
  • 2 bell peppers, cut in chunks
  • 1 can pineapple chunks, drained
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 2 cups hot cooked rice
Instructions
  1. Combine ginger, sugar, soy sauce, orange juice, oil, and garlic in crock pot. Add stew meat, onion, and peppers. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.
  2. Add pineapple and tomatoes. Continue cooking for 1 hour. Serve over rice.

 

Hope you won’t think I’m lazy for not skewering!

Happy eating!

Ruth