Stuffed Red Bell Peppers (Zeytinyağlı Kırmızı Biber Dolması)

It's almost summer and I cannot help but cook summer dishes. Dolmas simmered in olive oil, i.e. vegetarian dolmas, are perfect summer dishes. They can be served as the main dish for lunch. Also there's nothing like a cold delicious dolma as a side dish for dinner.

stuffs 8-10 medium size red bell peppers

1 cup white rice
2 medium size onions, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)
2 tomatoes, grated or 1 can of petite diced tomato
1 tomato (this one is for covering the tops of red bell peppers after stuffing)
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp currants
1/2 tbsp all spice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp mint flakes or ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp white sugar
salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive

optional1 tbsp basil flakes (it goes really well with the sweetness of red bell peppers)

-Mix well all the ingredients (except for peppers and 1 tomato) in a bowl.
-Wash peppers and take out the top part and the seeds.
-Stuff the peppers with the rice mix with a spoon or your hand.
-Cut small pieces from 1 tomato to cover the top parts of peppers. Press the tomato slice down a bit so that it won’t come out.
-Place the dolmas in a pot. Pour water. Make sure water is 1 inch below the dolmas.
-Let it boil on high heat then turn it to medium and cook for 35-45 minutes.

-You can serve it hot, but olive oil dishes like dolmas taste better when they cool down and taste even better the next day.
-Try them with yogurt.

*If you end up with extra stuffing, you can either freeze it for another time or stuff whatever you have in the fridge: potato, zucchini, tomato, etc.

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Stuffed Peppers with Bulgur (Bulgurlu Biber Dolması)

This dolma recipe is definitely for those who love bulgur. If you don't like bulgur, then your recipe for stuffed peppers is this one. On the other hand, if you like bulgur, this is a great recipe with fresh herbs and refreshing lemon zest.


























5-6 small bell peppers (Do not use huge regular bell peppers; they have really thick skin, are too big for stuffing, and most important of all are not flavorsome. Try to shop at Mexican stores or farmers' markets for smaller bell peppers)
1/2 cup coarse bulgur
1 big onion, finely chopped
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 bunch dill chopped
1-2 tsp mint flakes
2 long green chilies like anaheims, chopped
4 medium tomatoes, petite diced
approximately 1 tsp lemon zest
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp crushed peppers
salt
water

























-Take the tops of bell peppers. Take the seeds out, wash and rinse.
-Saute onion, green onion, and chilies with 1/4 olive oil for 5-6 minutes.
-Add bulgur, tomato, dill, lemon zest, salt, and crushed peppers. Stir for a minutes. Add 1/3 cup hot water. Cover and cook until bulgur soaks all the water.
-Stuff bell peppers with bulgur mix. Place in a pot facing up.
-Pour hot water half way through peppers. Scatter rest of the olive oil. First bring to a boil and then cover and simmer on low for half an hour.
-Serve warm with yogurt.

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Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (Zeytinyağlı Biber Dolma)

Another great traditional olive oil dish recipe: Stuffed peppers with olive oil. Olive oil dishes are cooked only with olive oil; best when they're served cold; and are usually summer dishes. There are two ways to cook stuffed peppers with olive oil: on the stove and in the oven. In my family we like baked stuffed peppers. Here's another certified Turkish recipe from my mom.












2 lb small green bell peppers (approximately 18-20 peppers)

2 cups white rice

4 medium size onions, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)

3 tomatoes, grated

1 tomato (this one is for covering the tops of bell peppers after stuffing)

1/3 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup currants

1 tbsp all spice

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp mint flakes or ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely

1 tsp white sugar

salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup olive

-Mix well all the ingredients (except for peppers and 1 tomato) in a bowl.

-Wash peppers and take out the top part and the seeds.

-Stuff the peppers with the rice mix with a spoon or your hand.

-Cut small pieces from 1 tomato to cover the top part of peppers. Press the tomato slice down a bit so that it won’t come out.

-Place the dolmas in an oven dish which is as tall as dolmas. Pour on top 2 cups of boiling water.

-First let it boil for 5 minutes on stove. Than, bake it in a preheated oven at 400F for 35-40 minutes until rice is cooked and tops are browned. Check them regularly if you don’t want to burn the tops.

-It’s better cold, but good when it’s hot, too.

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Stuffed Poblanos (Etli Poblano Dolması)

This is a classic "almost" Turkish recipe with the substitution of poblanos for small bell peppers. I've been craving stuffed peppers for a long time, but small green bell peppers haven't showed up at the farmers market yet. I hate flavorless huge bell peppers at the stores. A sensible Turk would not call them peppers. They don't smell or taste anything like peppers; their skin is really thick; and they hold almost half a kilo of rice. So I decided to stuff flavorsome poblanos and I did my best to choose not very big ones. This was my first stuffed poblano, and it was delicious!

To make this a "very" Turkish recipe, use small, thin-skin green bell peppers.

for 4 poblanos

4 reasonable size poblano peppers
1/3 lb ground beef (if you want, you can use 1/2 lb ground meet)
1/4 cup rice
2 medium size onions, finely chopped
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 dill, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2-3 tomatoes, petite diced
1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1-1 1/2 cups hot water
1 tomato, sliced
























-Wash peppers, cut the tops parts and clean inside.
-In a bowl mix well ground meat, rice, onion, parsley, dill, mint, black pepper, salt, and diced tomatoes (and tomato paste if you like). It'll be better mixed if you use your hand.
-Stuff poblanos with the mix. Seal the top with a slice of tomato.
-Place them in a broad pot.
-Pour hot water on (make sure water is 1/2 inch below the poblanos)
-Cut butter into small pieces and place on top of poblanos.
-Cook on medium for 45-50 minutes.
-Stuffed peppers are good when served with yogurt on the side. And soak that juice with fresh bread!

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