Thursday, July 22, 2010

{The Green Pepper Problem}

Namely, we have too many!  You guys haven't seen our tiny backyard garden for a while, have you?  It's really taken off!


First came the cayenne peppers and the grape tomatoes, but Mr. Pie has been keeping up with those pretty consistently.  They're starting to all ripen at once now so I imagine some tomato sauce or salsa or something is in our future.  The jalapenos are coming slowly and steadily, not quite out of hand yet, and we're still waiting on the large tomatoes and the carrots to fully ripen and grow.  BUT.  The green peppers are totally out of control.  We have them coming out of our ears!

Here's the close up of the bowl:



So here's our dilemma: we can use tomatoes for tons of things, and the cayenne we've dried and ground to powder for cooking... but what the HECK to we do with 3 dozen green peppers??  We've bbq'd a few for dinner, but didn't like that as much as we like the zucchini or squash the same way.  We've stuffed them and baked them a few times, but you can't only do that so much. 

I haven't braved canning just yet and don't really have the money at the moment for those supplies. So I'm looking for ideas either to preserve them somehow, or maybe bake them in something ala zucchini bread... or is there another meal that you like using green peppers?

Thanks in advance!
-Drowning in Produce

7 comments:

  1. Dear Drowning In Produce,

    Green peppers are never a problem. You could stuff them, use them in salad, roast them and then stuff them in chicken breasts (or chicken rolls). I've even seem them sauteed like onions and served with steak...ooh and you could always make four pepper chicken tacos. Hope all that helps :)

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  2. I'm a fan of the stir fry method where it all cooks down and you've used up at least three peppers before you know it. Or sweet pepper relish is always good.

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  3. Are you friends with your neighbors? We always use the foist-excess- produce-off-on-the-neighbors method. They do it to us in return so we get eggs and loquots and other things occasionally.

    You could also make them into a jelly/relish kind of topping. Depending on what recipe you find, that might preserve them for you.

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  4. You can definintely chop them and freeze them for now. Add them to dishes/omelets later!

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  5. My husband is a fan of them raw with a cream cheese schmear. He says its a great summertime snack.

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  6. Cutting them up and freezing them is a great idea, they keep really well that way. It is too bad you cannot can them, they would be great roasted and packed in oil like the kind you buy in the stores.

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