Teriyaki Peppers

Colorful bell peppers coated in a teriyaki-seasoned sauce

Peppers are such a useful garden vegetable.  They can be thrown into meals all day long, from breakfast scrambled eggs to supper spaghetti sauce.   They can be eaten raw as a vehicle to convey dip into the mouth,  or baked as a container for additional filling. They can be frozen [rinse, dry, chop, freeze on a tray like a berry before transferring into a bag/jar] and used in baked dishes year round.

Rarely, though, do peppers shine on their own.  In my continuing quest to add vegetable side dishes to my repertoire I'd like to share these easy Teriyaki Peppers. The sauce can be customized to meat-eating or vegetarian meals, and you can use whatever alliums you want. I used leeks, but I'll make them next with shallots since my garden shallots are abundant.

The farmers in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share grow lovely purple peppers in addition to the more common green ones. I was fascinated to learn that the purple peppers, when ripe, become orange (while the green peppers ripen to red). How cool is that? What a rainbow you could make--a medley of ripe and unripe bell peppers. I feel a pizza coming on . . . first, let's have a side dish.

Blown out photo, but shows the set up for the sauce.

Teriyaki Peppers

1 cup sliced leeks, tender parts only, can be thawed from frozen (or any other onion kin)
4 cups chopped bell peppers
1 Tablespoon cooking fat of your choice (I used olive oil)
½ cup (4 ounces) beef stock (or vegetable stock if you're going meatless)
3 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté leeks and peppers for 5 to 8 minutes until starting to soften. In a screw top jar, combine beef stock, teriyaki sauce, and cornstarch--shake to mix well.  Increase the heat to medium high, pour the sauce over the vegetables, and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes until sauce is thickened and clings to veggies.
Serve with rice.
I added some leftover cooked steak strips to the skillet for the last few minutes, to heat through.

This post is shared on What's Cookin' Wednesday, Tasty Tuesdays