By the Way, This is Vegetarian
May 15th, 2022
I’ve been thinking about what a tough time it is in the world right now. From degradation of the climate to the horrifying invasion of Ukraine and looming thoughts of nuclear escalation — from the fascist political drift all over the world and the receding concern with truth with the proliferation of astonishingly extreme conspiracy theories- and so many of us still reeling from pandemic hardship and isolation. It is so easy to feel undone by all of it.
To me, focusing on basic life support — cooking, handling and sharing food — is very grounding. It’s not complicated. You know what you are doing and why you are doing it. Feeding oneself and others is part of taking care of one other, and sharing food generates pleasure and calm. I think the biggest improvements we can make around climate change will need to come from large scale governmental legislation, (and in the voting booth), but it feels good to find ways to respond personally beyond recycling and thoughtful living.
On that note, while reducing stress on the environment is good, I’m not personally willing to embrace insects as a source of protein. I remember the brief craze over chocolate covered ants when I was in school. I was never tempted. And I’m not interested in cricket enriched flour either which has been weirdly popping up in fancy markets. I’m pretty sure that even in the future I’m not likely to be happy about eating grubs, (which look way too much like maggots to me). Let’s just hope things don’t get that desperate. As for vegetarian cooking, there are so many wonderful foods that happen to be vegetarian without resorting to over-processing in an incomprehensible attempt to make vegetables taste like meat. I really do enjoy meat, but if I’m not eating meat, I don’t need something else to mimic it. But maybe that’s because I eat it now and then. Still, there is a beauty in ripe fruits and vegetables — the taste of the sun in a truly ripe tomato, or the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon, or fully ripened fruit, things to be celebrated rather than turned into imitations of something else. That’s just my view though. Some people clearly feel differently about it. So, with that in mind, here is a delicious main course option that celebrates the bounty of plant-based eating, and just happens to be vegetarian without needing to be anything else. You might just crave it regularly.
STUFFED PEPPERS (& OPTIONALLY OTHER VEGETABLES) WITH FRESH HERBS
The ingredients:
Begin with Bulgur Wheat, also known as cracked wheat — If you can find the slightly coarser variety rather than the finest texture used for tabouli, it works especially well in this recipe
Peel a small onion or two, here I also used a shallot, cut halfway through them vertically, stopping at the core so that you will have an opening in each layer. Boil for 10 minutes and cool.
Sauté onions and garlic in 2 T. each butter and olive oil. If you want to make the recipe vegan, you can just use olive oil
Add the bulgur and continue cooking on low heat until the bulgur is beginning to brown and smells toasted. It is very important to the flavor to cook it to this point. It should be browner but make sure to stop short of burning it.
Next, add the chopped walnuts and cook another 5 minutes. Then add the water and cover and cook for 20 minutes until the water is absorbed.
Uncover and stir in the chopped herbs and then the golden raisins. Remove the filling to a bowl. If you don’t use it right away, cover and refrigerate it.
To a flat bottomed skillet, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and three or 4 canned plum tomatoes crushed with clean hands, and 1 Tablespoon of sea salt.
Stuff the peppers and any other vegetables with filling and layer them in the pan. If you are serving more than 4 you will have enough filling for two skillets. I have made this with hollowed slices of zucchini, eggplant, savoy cabbage pre-boiled like the onion above, and grape leaves. Cabbage and grape leaves get wrapped around a spoon or two of filling to make little compact packages. Then just fit it all in a single layer in each pan. I also sometimes include peeled unstuffed pieces of carrot and beet to contribute flavor but use whatever you like best.
Once the skillet or skillets are filled, squeeze half a lemon on top, pour in ¾ c. water over it all and cover. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer for 20–30 minutes.
Uncover and carefully turn each vegetable to expose the other side, squeeze another half lemon on top and cover and simmer another 30 minutes. Then uncover and continue cooking until everything is well browned on the bottom.
STUFFED PEPPERS AND OTHER VEGETABLES
Filling (you can make the filling a day ahead to spend less time on it the day of serving and keep it overnight in the refrigerator):
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter (if you want to make it vegan you can use just olive oil)
1 good sized onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled, halved, central stem removed, and minced
1 ½ c. slightly coarse bulgur (not the finest texture you would use for tabouli)
¾ c. walnuts chopped
¾ c. golden raisins
½ c. chopped Italian parsley
¼ c. chopped fresh mint
3 c. water
Salt and pepper
Melt the butter and oil together in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Then add the bulgur and cook stirring until it smells toasted. It’s very important to get it to this point, it makes a big difference to the flavor.
Stir in the walnuts and cook 5 more minutes.
Add the water and cover and simmer for 20–30 minutes until the water is completely absorbed. Uncover and stir in the raisins and herbs 1 t. salt and 1 t. pepper and remove the filling to a bowl. If not using immediately, cover and refrigerate the filling.
Vegetables for stuffing:
16 red mixed miniature peppers
Onions — peeled and halfway sliced through the stem so the layers can be seperated, once boiled and cooled.
Optional other vegetables to include:
Grape leaves
Savoy Cabbage — boil for 10 minutes and cool to separate and stuff the leaves
Zucchini — slice in 2 inch chunks, and cut out the core
Eggplant — use thin Japanese or Italian eggplant, similarly cut + core 2” chunks
Hunks of peeled carrot and beets can be added around the stuffed vegetables if you like them
To cook: For each skillet use:
4–5 canned Italian plum tomatoes
3 T. olive oil
1 T. sea salt
1 lemon for juice
¾ c. water
Layer in the stuffed vegetables and squeeze half a lemon over each pan. Pour on the water and cover. Bring to a boil and turn down to simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove cover, turn the vegetables to expose the undersides and squeeze another lemon half on top. Cover and simmer another 20–30 minutes. Then remove the cover and continue cooking over low heat until the water is absorbed, and everything begins to brown. When it is brown and sizzling on the bottom, it’s done.
I made this version with peppers and onions, but you will have enough stuffing to make 2 skillets of vegetables and you can use any combination you like.
