Back before there were a (seemingly) endless number of food blogs on the internet, there were a few I followed pretty religiously. 101 Cookbooks, Sprouted Kitchen, Seven Spoons, and one of my all time favorites: Kimberly Hasselbrink’s The Year in Food.
I was new to the idea of blogs, but suddenly I spent all my time at the office procrastinating instead of working. What I was going to make that night for dinner became far more important to me that any client project I had on my plate.
I was drawn to these blogs not because I needed to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes – I was enamored with their images and how they made me want to try new foods. Instead of going to the store with a recipe (which never really worked for me anyway), I began going to the market to see what looked good that day. I learned to pick up a new vegetable because it was pretty and figure out what to make with it later. By experimenting this way, my cooking not only became more beautiful, it also became more delicious. (More vibrant, if you will).
So naturally, I was through the moon to meet Kimberley a couple of months ago at the Saveur Awards. “When am I getting your book!” was I think the first question statement I blurted out. Later, when I got home, there it was – Vibrant Food – on my doorstep.
It’s (of course) beautiful and full of so many creative, inspiring, seasonal ideas. Things I would have never thought of: squash blossom tacos, edamame & radish risotto, grilled hallumi with strawberries and mint.
She writes “My hope is that [the book] is equal parts inspiration and accessibility. Even if you can’t find nettles, fresh chickpeas, kumquats, quince or some of the other less common ingredients I’ve grown so fond of, I hope that curiosity will get the better of you. Perhaps you’ll bring a striking vegetable home and mull over it, and then build a colorful dish around that vegetable. That is how I cook.”
I made these little stuffed peppers because they were too cute not to. She topped her peppers with a tomatillo salsa, but I had just come home with these gorgeous green tomatoes so I made a green tomato salsa instead.
Stuffed Peppers Recipe, from Vibrant Food. Green Tomato Salsa adapted from Kimberley’s Tomatillo Salsa recipe.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- ¾ cups (uncooked) millet*
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1¼ cups low-sodium veggie broth
- kernels from 1 ear of fresh corn
- 1 cup grated jack cheese
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, & pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground chili powder
- 16 ounces small sweet peppers
- queso fresco, for serving
- 4-5 small green tomatoes, diced
- ¼ cup red onion, diced
- ¼ cup scallions, diced
- ½ of a jalapeño, seeds removed & minced
- juice of 1-2 limes + some zest
- big handful of chopped cilantro
- optional - a few pinches of sugar
- 1 small avocado, diced
- generous pinches of salt
- Make the salsa: Combine the diced green tomatoes, red onion, scallions, jalapeño and cilantro in a medium bowl with lime juice, zest, and a generous sprinkling of salt. Stir, then chill for at least an hour. (The longer the better if your green tomatoes happen to be tart). Before serving, add diced avocado. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt and a few pinches of sugar if necessary.
- Optional (but recommended) step: blend salsa in a food processor until smooth but still a little chunky. Chill until ready to use.
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté, stirring, until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the millet and toast until very lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Gently fluff the millet with a fork. Stir in the corn, jack cheese, remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, paprika, chili powder and pepper to taste. To stuff peppers, make a slit from stem to tip. Carefully remove the seeds and membrane and stuff each pepper with the filling. Bake the peppers for 20-25 minutes or until they begin to brown.
- Serve peppers with green salsa, queso fresco and extra cilantro on top.
These work great as leftovers - store extra filling (& salsa) in the fridge. Stuff the peppers as you're ready to bake them.
These look delicious! I’ll probably use quinoa instead of millet as well. I’ll probably try these Monday night.
Great looking recipe! Are these unripe green tomatoes (very tart) or tomatoes which are green when ripe (some are incredibly sweet)? Big difference!
These are green tomatoes (not unripe ones)… but the salsa recipe would work with tomatoes that were sweeter too. Thanks, I’ll make a note about it in the recipe.
this is just the perfect summer salad, the colours are incredible! love it.
looks so delicious!! perfect for summertime <3
x
laura&nora
Stunning pictures!! This looks so delicious! The amount of food blogs out there these days is SO overwhelming. I am constantly trying to edit down the number that I am following but I am always discovering new ones too!
those little green tomato babies!!!!!! so so so cute!!!!!!
This looks beautiful! I just picked up Vibrant Food myself yesterday! Very excited! I too remember when food blogs were much fewer and far between than they are now, and I also started of with 101 cookbooks, SK and Year in Food! And still loving them! Cheers!
This is why I started following food blogs too. I rarely make recipes exactly as printed but am always so inspired! What a beautiful post!
Luci’s Morsels – fashion. food. frivolity.
Green tomato salsa!! What a fantastic idea and a great alternative for those of us who can’t find tomatillos.This recipe is lovely and the cookbook equally so.
I love tomatoes! So this one would be great for me. Looks so yummy.
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These look yummy! Am I missing something, though? In the cooking instructions for the millet it says to add tomato and broth….I don’t see these 2 ingredients in the list. How much of these do you add? Thanks!
oops! Just fixed that.
I love stuffed peppers. Looks delicious. Thanks for sharing from 3girls1apple.com
I loooooove this! So much colour!
Fantastic photos and an amazing green tomato salsa! Can’t wait to try it!
I loved your comment about being “drawn to these blogs not because I needed to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes – I was enamored with their images and how they made me want to try new foods”. That is exactly how I feel looking at your photos. Everything looks so fresh and vibrant. I can see that you really savor the entire process of the meal – from selection to consumption. Just beautiful!
Jennie
YUM. I can’t wait to start using corn in my cooking! Not quiiiiite in season around here yet…. but SOON! Thanks for sharing 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
Lovely images and the recipe sounds so good. I have stuffed these with risotto and also served them plain roasted. They are beautiful.
mmm, stuffed peppers with risotto just moved up to my “to make soon” list!
these are gorgeous! i always see those little peppers in the grocery store and want to pick up a bag because they’re so adorable, but i can never think of anything to make with them. this is definitely on the menu for the week; it’s so pretty!
Gorgeous! I love Kimberley’s approach to food, and I do also think her cookbook is perfectly named. 🙂 Such vibrant food!
Love these pictures, and I’ve heard such good things about that cookbook–I must get a copy soon!
We are all obsessed with those green tomatoes over here. Can’t wait to try the salsa out on those delicious peppers!
Love how colorful this is! Looks so fresh!
I love green zebra tomatoes! Just got some this week in my CSA bag. I see this salsa in my near future 🙂
I just love them – always hard to come by, but so pretty!
The perfect picture of summer on a plate!
I’ve almost made this recipe so many times but then events have conspired against me – I can’t wait to try it though; I love your quinoa version too!
It just so happens that you’re my Kimberley. Every post, I love reading what you have to say and looking at the gorgeous photos and most times, you have a recipe posted that features an ingredients I’ve either never worked with, never even tasted, or have very limited experience with. Cheers!
awwww! Thanks, your comment just made my day 🙂
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Jeanine, I prepared these for your father’s visit to our house! What a hit! I made mine with orso!
Ooh so glad they were a hit! We have to come visit sometime soon 🙂
Looks Delicious…I Just Love green Zebra Tomatoes..Those green tomatoes looks so nice
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Love the colors 🙂
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