Success with Chocolate Peppers

Chocolate Peppers came in strong in the garden this year. Nope. They’re not actually chocolate. Wouldn’t that be nice! Growing ready to eat chocolate straight from the garden bed!! (Milk chocolate or dark?) But seriously! Chocolate peppers are a type of bell pepper that ripens to a brownish – greenish – red.

Growing bell peppers is not easy in my area. Despite a relatively warm and long growing season, some years they just don’t do a thing. Usually I have far more success with hot peppers. This year, except for my Chinese Five Color peppers, my hot peppers didn’t do much while my three bell pepper plants were the champs.

Peppers need the standard items. Loamy well draining soil. Regular watering and fertilizing. Attention to pests to catch them early and as I mentioned before — plenty of heat. They take a long time to mature compared to many other vegetables. I think that’s why when you buy them in the store, they are either from Mexico or they are hothouse grown — frequently from Canada.

Off of my three plants I’ve had about 12 peppers and several of them have been large enough to stuff. I love peppers many different ways. Sliced into strips and sautéed with onions and added to green beans or vegan sausage — eaten raw in salads or as a dipper for hummus — as a star ingredient in a frittata! I could go on and on but instead I’m celebrating my large enough to stuff chocolate peppers with a recipe for a stuffed pepper.

Chocolate Peppers stuffed with Black Beans and Chorizo

My first step early in the day was to soak a pound of black beans for six hours in cold water. I drained them and then put them in a large pot covered with water two inches over the top of the beans. I added a stalk of celery, half an onion and a carrot for flavor. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes later you will have a TON of black beans.

Start tasting at 30 minutes. It will probably take at least an hour but how quickly they cook is really variable. When they’re done, remove from heat. Add a couple of teaspoons of salt and let them sit for about 20 minutes. If you add the salt earlier, the beans will become tough. You can omit the salt altogether but I think they taste better with a little salt.

You can also just use a can of black beans in this recipe but I use a lot of beans in my cooking and think the home cooked taste better and they are certainly cheaper!

On to the peppers!!

When the beans are ready, wash and cut the tops off of your peppers. You can also cut them in half if they’re really big. Your choice!

Rub the peppers with a little olive oil, turn them cut side down in a pie plate or casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they just start to soften.

In the meantime, sauté a half a cup of onion with some salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, thyme and oregano in a skillet in a little bit of olive or avocado oil. I also added three of my red Chinese five color peppers for some heat. Omit if you’re not into hot stuff. After that has softened, add 1/2 lb. of chorizo or hamburger. I am using a new Vegan meat from Abbot’s Butcher. It has a really good texture and flavor and is made primarily of pea protein and mushrooms. https://abbotsbutcher.com

Next add in 1 1/2 cups of black beans (about one can) and heat through.

Add in 1 cup of corn, fresh or frozen and 1/2 cup of vegetable stock.

Remove the softened peppers from the oven.

Turn them over and fill with stuffing. Then bake in the 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes just to let flavors meld and the peppers to get thoroughly soft.

I stuffed two of my chocolate peppers and two store bought red bell peppers and had plenty of stuffing left over! The stuffing will go in the freezer so that a second batch of stuffed peppers at a later date will be a snap!

I served these with some cashew cream on top and a side of red cabbage slaw. (See https://creeksidekitchenandgarden.com/peas-in-the-garden-pasta-primavera-in-the-kitchen/ for a cashew cream recipe.). Cheddar cheese (vegan or otherwise) would also be a good topper.

This wasn’t the prettiest dish I’ve ever made. But it tasted soooo good!

Ingredients

• 4 bell peppers
• 1 1/2 cups black beans
• 1/2 lb chorizo – vegan for me (or ground beef)
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1 cup corn
• 1 or two hot peppers to taste (or omit for heat free)
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 1Tbs. olive or avocado oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Early in the day soak and cook black beans (or have one can on hand).
2. Wash and cut the top off of four bell peppers. Oil lightly and bake in a 350 degree oven with about 2 Tbs. of water in the bottom of the dish for cut side down for about 20 minutes or until just soft. Remove from oven and and flip over to fill.
3. While peppers are cooking, start stuffing. Saute onion with hot peppers and spices until onion is just soft. Add chorizo and brown. Add black beans and warm through. Add corn and vegetable stock and simmer for just 5 minutes until warmed through. Taste and adjust seasonings. More salt? More heat? Now is the time to add it!
4. Spoon stuffing into peppers and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
5. Top as desired with vegan cashew cream and/or vegan cheese.

Enjoy!

Last Word

These chocolate peppers have been so amazing. This weekend, the fringes of hurricane Ian rolled through my neck of the woods. A stem loaded with four peppers snapped off when I tried to right the plant.

Amazingly, there is even a bud on this branch which, had it been given a chance, would be another pepper!