WAKE UP PEOPLE
What smart choices
can we make for our bodies?

PEPPERS

 
 
TURNIP GREEN STUFFED PEPPERS

PEPPERS belong to the capsicum family, which is Latin for "box," and the peppers' hollow cavities make them ideal for stuffing.  You can stuff them with combinations of infinite imagining - grain, meat, vegetables, cheese, herbs, and spices.

TURNIP GREENS add bone-building nutrition by offering additional vitamin K and calcium.  While turnips are among the most easily and commonly grown root crops, you can harvest outer leaves for soups and salads all through the growing seasons.

Trader Joe's HARVEST GRAINS BLEND is ideal for pepper stuffing - couscous, orzo, garbanzo beans, and red quinoa.  You can stir the grain into boiling water, turn off the heat, and just let it sit for twenty minutes, while you prepare the vegetables.
 


Chopped ONION and minced GARLIC are essential for good pepper stuffing.  Beyond their benefits of flavor, onions contain antioxidants and are antibiotic, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory.  Meanwhile the garlic lowers bad cholesterol, prevents blood coagulation, decreases the risk of stomach and colon cancer, and lowers blood pressure.  PEPITAS (hulled pumpkin seeds), chopped CARROTS, and CELERY also make good additions. 
 

 
If you are looking for a gift for the household chef that is both beautiful and practical. consider an ulu knife and concave cutting board.  Check out the Ulu Factory website

  SAUTE

Stir the cooked grains. Saute the chopped vegetable in a separate frying pan with three tablespoons of olive oil.  Cover vegetables and cook slowly on a simmer setting, stirring occasionally until tender.
Peppers are easy to grow, but they might require the support of stakes to help hold the plants upright as they start to bear their fruit.  We started out with small pepper plants, which have provided a tremendous yield.  Peppers come in many shapes, sizes, and degrees of hotness.
 
When it comes to mild "sweet peppers," the riper the pepper, the better the flavor and the nutrition.  Peppers grow green, but when they fully mature many change colors, with red ones being the sweetest.


Nutritionally, peppers are a good source of potassium and vitamins A, C, and K, as well as lycopene.  The phytochemical lycopene is an efficient antioxidant, which can neutralize oxygen-derived free radicals. The damage caused by free radicals has been linked to many degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Lycopene helps to maintain and support healthy cells. Lycopene is particularly known for its protective action against prostate cancer. 

Note: Peppers are a sure sign of God's sense of humor. 
They are full of air.  And, they are known to make you fart.  What a GASss!  That is because they help break down bacteria that in other food.  Why do pepper effect some people more than others?  Why do some farts smell worse than others?  It has partly to do with the presence of carbohydrates.  Learn more by following the link to this article.
 
Stuffed Peppers (continued) - TURNIP GREENS should be chopped and mixed in with the grains and vegetables after the cooking to preserve their freshness and nutritional value.

 
 
HOT PEPPER SAUCE adds dimension to a pepper stuffing.  If you're not a vegetarian cooked all natural GROUND BEEF also adds another layer of flavor and texture.  Stir in these additions if desired.
 

 
Cut tops from peppers and clean out the seeds.  Fill with prepared stuffing.  Cook for 15 minutes in a 400-degree preheated oven or cook in the grill on top of a sheet of aluminum foil.  Top with chopped fresh herbs, like oregano and basil.  Then serve on a bed of fresh garden greens.
  
  

 
My main source for nutritional information is a fabulous book titled The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D. C.N.S.  This is the perfect reference to complement your cookbook collection.

 
STORING PEPPERS
Clean, core, and slice peppers and vacuum seal them into bags for freezer storage.


Go to the top of the page to see what else is on the menu.

Web Hosting Companies