Stuffed Peppers
One thing about in-house recipe development...you end up
with a lot of leftovers. I ate so many
Hoppin' John Cornbread Muffins the other day.
I decided that in an effort to not waste food, I'd better think of a way
to repurpose them. Stuffing seemed
obvious. I wasn't in the mood for a
traditional holiday dressing. Rather, I
did a spin on an Italian classic and stuffed green peppers with some revved up
cornbread. How'd you do that,
Ashley? Oh, I'm glad you asked. I crumbled up some muffins in a bowl just
with a fork. I'm sure I could have
thrown the cornbread in a food processor, but the fork seemed simple
enough. I added cranberries, shredded
smoked Gouda cheese and extra virgin olive oil.
I didn't add a lot of oil. Just
enough to moisten it up a bit. About a
tablespoon per jumbo muffin. Once I
removed the tops and seeds of the peppers, I seasoned them up with olive oil
salt and pepper. In hindsight, I would
have charred the peppers on the stove to soften them up and get some additional
depth of flavor. I hand-packed the
stuffing in the peppers. I did not hold
back. You shouldn't either! I let them cook in a preheated 350°F oven
just until the stuffing heated through...about 20 minutes.
Stuffed Acorn Squash
I applied the same technique to acorn squash. I cut a squash in half widthwise for 2
servings. I hallowed out the halves with
a spoon. The squash was hit with olive
oil, salt, and pepper. I used my hands
to rub the seasoning all over the squash, inside and out. I allowed the squash to roast in the oven by
placing the cut side down on a pan. I
lined my pan with foil, because I'm lazy and cleaning out the pan wasn't
something I was feeling at the time.
They roasted in a 350°F oven until the interior was soft and turned
golden around the edges...about 30 minutes.
The cooked squash was again hand packed with the stuffing mixture. I added some leftover broccoli this
time. One of my New Year's Resolutions:
waste less food. Once the stuffing
heated through, I was ready to enjoy.
Fish with Cornbread Stuffing
The fish was another good and quick way to use up the
muffins. I loaded the center of a
seasoned fish fillet with the stuffing and simply had rolled the fish around
it. I gave the fish a quick drizzle with
some oil and baked it at 325°F until the fish firmed up and cooked
through. Should take 12-15 minutes
depending on the thickness of the fish.
So, to wrap up, there are tons of things that you can do to
repurpose leftovers. Get creative in the
new year and leave nothing to waste!
AEC
Photo Credits: Ashley E. Cummings