While growing up, many families will have a certain dish that rotates into the weekly menu planning regularly. It may be a pasta night, or a chicken night. Your family might have included a pizza night. In our family, every other week my mother would make stuffed peppers. I remember sitting at the kitchen table helping her fill each and every pepper. And, I also remember my sisters and I would change the lids around so that we would have different coloured peppers with mismatched lids. My mother hated that! But, we were having fun, and she appreciated that we were helping.
At some point in time, my mother decided that cooking was too much work and she wanted to spend her time with other things. So, she found various dishes that would free her schedule and she did not have to spend the time stuck in the kitchen. My mother also made sure that we each learned to cook something so she could rotate cooking duties amongst the children. But, I give her credit -- my mother found ways to make some dishes that even she calls the Lazy Way.
Stuffed peppers is one of the dishes that my mother made into a Lazy Day dish. It is a meal that goes a long way to feed a big family. It is also a great side dish. Really, if you look at the Greek way of eating, we put rice with many different things -- shrimp, leeks, peas, artichokes, potatoes… why not peppers? Or we would have a more traditional yemista (stuffed veggies), where the pepper is stuffed with the rice. But, when you are feeling a bit lazy, stuffing each pepper (or vegetable) may be too much work. So, how does my mother do it?
Well, she shared with us her method. The amounts will vary depending on how many you are feeding, and whether it is a side dish or a main dish. We are making this to feed 4 people as a main dish.
For this recipe, you will need the following:
1 cup rice
1 onion, chopped
3-4 bell peppers, cleaned and cut
2 heaping TBSP tomato paste
1 TBSP parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups water
Saute the onion in one oil. Make sure you have enough oil to fully coat the onion pieces. Cook this for about 10 minutes for the onions to become soft and fragrant. Sprinkle the rice into the pot and mix well. All the onion and all the rice should be coated with oil. Now, add the seasonings.
My mother never used fresh herbs, except for mint which grew in abundance in our yard. Nor did she use fresh garlic. Everything was powdered or dried spices. That may be because my mother always preferred (and still prefers) mild flavoured food. She is not one for spicy or tangy flavours at all. So, use the garlic poser and the dry parsley, and add some flavour to the rice. Again, mix this well to make sure the ingredients are well distributed.
Now, add the tomato paste. We used two very heaping spoonfuls. Give that a minute to cook in the pan so the tomato becomes rich and flavourful. Mix this well to make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Then, add the cut pepper pieces. We have a variety of sizes in our cuttings because the pepper swede different sizes. Cut up the peppers into six or eight pieces each and add them to the pot. Mix again so the ingredients are well combined. And, remove the pot from the heat.
It is time to add the water. We used the ratio of 1 rice to 2 waters. So, we added two cups of water to the pot. Mix again to combine everything. You may notice the oil and seasonings floating to the top of the pot, and that's okay. We are going to cover this pot with a very tight aluminum foil wrap. Make it air tight.
Bake this at 375ºF (190ºC) for 30-45 minutes. You have to know the efficiency of your oven to know if the rice will cook in 30 minutes, or if it will take 45. Our convection oven took 35 minutes to cook this in full. When you open the aluminum foil, check to see that the rice is soft and fluffy under the layer of peppers. See how the peppers rose to the top of the pot? Serve this hot directly from the pot, or scoop it into various bowls to serve individually. You want to make sure that the peppers are distributed to each serving. That will be the most work you have to do with this lazy day dish. Enjoy!
"A clear rule for self-control handed down by the Fathers is this: stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied."
By St. John Cassian
Source of quote: http://www.azquotes.com/author/23687-John_Cassian
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