Lebanese Stuffed Peppers Food

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS WITH LEBANESE SPICES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix together ground sirloin, uncooked white rice, salt, pepper, and 3 of the grated garlic cloves. Stuff peppers equally with 1/4 of the mixture then place peppers in the bottom of a deep pot.
• In a large bowl, whisk together tomato juice, dried mint, lemon juice, and remaining 3 cloves of grated garlic. Pour mixture over the peppers, making sure that the peppers are covered with the liquid. (Add more tomato juice if needed.)
• Bring pot to a boil on high heat then reduce to low and cover with lid. Cook on low for 45 minutes or until peppers are tender and rice and meat is cooked through. Serve with Lebanese Laban Cucumber Yogurt Sauce.

LEBANESE STUFFED ZUCCHINI (COOSA/KOOSA)

Steps:

• Cut one end off each zucchini. Use a small scoop to scoop the flesh from the zucchinis, leaving shells. Discard the flesh.
• Mix chopped round steak, rice, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper together in a bowl. Lightly stuff the steak mixture into the zucchinis, making sure to leave about 1 inch of space for the rice to expand; if you don't, the zucchini will burst which still tastes good but doesn't look as nice.
• Place the zucchinis in a large pot; add tomato soup and stewed tomatoes. Place a plate on top of the zucchinis to prevent them from bouncing around once the sauce is boiling.
• Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer until the rice is fully cooked, 30 to 45 minutes.

MIDDLE EASTERN STUFFED ZUCCHINI RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the stuffing ingredients of rice, ground beef, shredded onion, fresh parsley, dill, diced tomatoes, water, olive oil, allspice, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Mix by hand to combine.
• Now, remove the top of 3 tomatoes and remove the core to hollow out the tomatoes making room for the stuffing. Do this using a corer like this one.
• With a knife, remove the very top of the zucchini, then cut each zucchini in half to make shorter zucchini for stuffing. Now you need to hollow out the zucchini to make room for the stuffing.
• Insert your corer about 3/4 of the way into the zucchini, making sure not to poke the bottoms. Twist the corer and pull out the zucchini cores or hearts. Do this a few times, and gently scrape the sides of the zucchini until you have hollowed each out making room for the stuffing. You'll want to leave about 1/4 inch rim of zucchini.
• Lightly oil the bottom of a large deep cooking pan like this one. Slice the remaining tomato and spread over the bottom of the pan. Now add the onion slices and the cores or hearts of the zucchini. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
• Now, using your hands, gently stuff the hollowed tomatoes with the rice stuffing. Then loosely stuff the zucchini with the rice stuffing about 3/4 of the way (do not over-stuff or crowd the rice stuffing in the zucchini or it will not cook well).
• Arrange the stuffed tomatoes in the center of the cooking pan, then add the stuffed zucchini (stuffed side up) around them. Tilt the zucchini a little, this helps them cook nicely through using less liquid.
• Now add the tomato sauce and water. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
• Place the pan on the stove and cook on medium-high heat until the liquid starts boiling. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for for 50 minutes until the zucchini is tender and the rice stuffing is fully cooked.
• Transfer to a serving platter or individual bowls. Top with the sauce from the cooking pan. Enjoy!

LEBANESE ROASTED STUFFED ONIONS

Steps:

• The first step is to soak your rice in a bowl cool water. The rice will absorb some of the water -- we'll drain off the water in a later step.
• Fill a pot with water (enough to cover a whole onion by 1" and bring to a boil. Cut off the very top and bottom of each onion. Make a cut down one side of each of the onions, cutting into the center from top to bottom. This helps the onion layers cook evenly and make it easier to peel. Add the onions, and let them cook for 10 minutes or until the layers soften and separate easily.
• Drain the rice completely. In a large mixing bowl, add the drained rice, tomato paste, cinnamon, allspice, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cilantro or parsley and ground meat. Mix well.
• When the onions have finished cooking, remove and drain from the boiling water. Let cool and separate out the layers individually and place 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling, wrap onion around filling, but not too tightly to allow rice to expand during cooking.
• In a large, oven-safe saute pan over medium-high heat, swirl in the olive oil. When pan is hot, place the onions seam-side down. Let cook for 2 minutes until the bottoms have browned slightly. Add vinegar to the pan and sprinkle the tops of the onions with sugar. Cover the pan and turn the heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes or until the meat and rice are fully cooked, rotating the onions halfway during cooking.

LEBANESE STUFFED PEPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut tops off bell peppers; reserve. Discard seeds. Place peppers in a microwave-safe dish; cover with damp paper towels. Microwave at HIGH for 6 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Combine 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, 1/4 cup broth, and next 5 ingredients. Divide beef mixture among peppers; top with tops. Pour 2 cups water into dish; cover and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle peppers with 1/4 cup parsley.
• Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan. Add onions; saute for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; saute for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, 1/4 cup broth, tomatoes and the next 4 ingredients (water-red pepper); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 30 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup parsley and yogurt. Serve with lemons.

GREEK STYLE STUFFED PEPPERS RECIPE

Steps:

• In a medium heavy pot, heat 1 tbsp of extra virgin oil. Saute the chopped onions until golden. Now add the meat and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned. Season with salt, pepper, allspice, minced garlic (or garlic powder). Stir in the chickpeas and cook briefly.
• To the same pot, now add the parsley, rice (which had been soaked in water and drained), paprika, and tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Add the water and bring to a high simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Then turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked and no longer hard nor too chewy. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
• While the rice is cooking, heat a grill or indoor griddle or skillet over medium-high. Grill the bell peppers for 10-15 minutes, covered, and turning over as needed so that the peppers will soften and gain some color. Remove from heat and set aside to cool briefly.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Assemble the bell peppers open-side up in a baking dish filled with 3/4 cup broth or water. Fill each of the bell peppers with the the cooked stuffing mixture of meat, rice and chickpeas.
• Cover the baking dish with foil (making sure the foil does not touch the stuffed peppers) and place the dish on the middle rack of your heated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and garnish with parsley, if you like, and serve.
• To serve stuffed peppers as a main dish Greek-style, add Tztaziki sauce and Greek salad for sides.

LEBANESE STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground beef, rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and set aside.
• Rinse grape leaves several times. If the leaves are small, leave them intact, but cut out the large center vein. If the leaves are large, cut them in half vertically, cutting out the large vein in the process. Place a small amount of the ground meat mixture at the end of each leaf. Roll up egg-roll style.
• Pour the oil into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Lay the chops over the oil. Lay the tomato slices over the chops.
• Place the stuffed grape leaves seam-side down on top of the chops. Pack the leaves tightly and begin a second layer when necessary. Place whole garlic cloves randomly between the rolled leaves; plenty of garlic on each layer.
• When you are done stacking, pour the lemon juice over the leaves, and add water to the pot to about 2-inches above the rolled leaves. To prevent the leaves from unrolling during cooking, place a plate on top of the stack of leaves and place a heavy object on top of the plate.
• Simmer the leaves over low heat for about 2 hours.
• Invert the entire Dutch oven into a large platter with high sides (i.e. a 12-inch round cake pan). Or, remove the leaves from the pot with tongs. Serve rustic style, with plenty of Arabic bread on which to spread the garlic!