I do not want to go grocery shopping. I have already been to Costco and picked up Greek yogurt, chicken for the dogs, and new pillows. Which have absolutely nothing to do with food! Although nothing that I have picked up is a meal in its entirety. In fact, I still have to go to another grocery store in order to actually make anything that I plan on making! So, I'm digging into the garden and the deep, dark corners of my refrigerator. Part of the reason that I've refused to buy produce is that I have so much ripening in the garden at the moment! I have hoards and hoards of peppers, tomatoes, squash, broccoli, radish, onions, beets, et cetera. So, I'm absolutely going to make something with things that I already have. And, after much contemplation, have ended up with queso fresco stuffed peppers.
I got queso fresco last week thinking that I was going to end up stuffing some peppers. I usually stuff bell peppers with quinoa or queso fresco with poblanos. But I didn't plant poblanos and my bell peppers are puny in comparison to my Anaheims! So, stuffing anaheim peppers it is.
I also have a few tomatoes ripening and hoards of green onions. So, a simple scrambled eggs with roasted queso fresco stuffed Anaheims and freshly chopped tomatoes and green onions.
Gallery
Variations of Queso Fresco Stuffed Peppers
I don't always stuff peppers, but I am a big fan of scrambles and salads of this variety. Highlighting the best parts of fresh produce are paramount and these are all great ways to utilize what you have on hand.
Queso fresco stuffed peppers are a great way to utilize fresh peppers for breakfast with scrambled eggs and freshly chopped tomatoes and green onions. It's a quick and easy meal to throw together with things from the garden or a quick trip to the grocery store or farmer's market. It highlights all of the great things about fresh produce in a hearty meal that is sure to keep you full throughout the morning.
Cut the tops off of the Anaheim peppers. Take a small knife and de-vein and de-seed the peppers.The goal here is to hollow out the peppers, without compromising the shape. It's easier to stuff them when there aren't holes in them for the cheese to spill out! I'll use a long, sharp paring knife for this. That way it will fit inside of the pepper and you can just twist it around to remove the seeds. If you're careful and the knife is sharp enough, you can also slice through the veins and pull them out. You don't have to remove every single vein and seed, but they are quite bitter. So, removing as much of the innards as possible is preferable.
Crumble queso fresco and stuff inside of the Anaheim peppers.It helps to crumble the cheese before trying to stuff the peppers. That way, you can push it into the bottom tip of the pepper, without poking through the flesh. This can be easier said than done! Especially with larger pieces of cheese. Although crumbling it certainly helps as well as stuffing small amounts of cheese at a time.I also like to fill the end of the peppers with a larger chunk of queso fresco. This serves as a kind of cap to the peppers to keep the crumbled bits of cheese from falling out during the roasting process.
Put stuffed peppers in the air fryer and roast for 8-10 minutes, or until the peppers begin to char and turn slightly brown in color. Make sure to rotate somewhere between half and three-quarters of the way through the roasting process in order to cook evenly.Also make sure that the peppers are propped up as much as possible, to keep the cheese from spilling out. I tend to place them in the air fryer so that the slight curve of the peppers faces upward. Most peppers aren't perfectly straight and lean to a certain direction. Then, when I rotate them to get an even cook, I'll sometimes stack the peppers leaning against one another so that the cheese still faces upwards as much as possible.
Scramble Eggs
Meanwhile, preheat a skillet on the stove to medium-high heat.I use a fairly well seasoned cast iron skillet that doesn't need much, if any, oiling. Although for other types of skillets you will likely want to add a splash of olive oil here to prevent the eggs from sticking.
Crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk until fluffy.
Add eggs to the pan. Move them around gently with a spatula, making sure that they cook evenly.Stirring more constantly will result in runnier eggs. Stirring less vigorously will result in thicker eggs, but you may need to flip them to cook evenly.
Continue to gently move the eggs around until barely cooked. This should only take a couple of minutes. Remove from heat when the eggs begin to form and are no longer runny.
Assemble Plate
Place the scrambled eggs on a plate. Top with tomatoes, green onions, the stuffed peppers, and a dash of salt and pepper.
Serve immediately. Eggs don't tend to keep well and I wouldn't suggest making them ahead of time. Although stuffed peppers do reheat well in the air fryer for a couple of minutes and can be used for several days after roasting if you want to make a large batch.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
Scrambled eggs are so fundamental that we often don't really think about it. But there truly is an art on how to scramble eggs! And there are some very easy pitfalls to fall into that are easily avoided. For tips and tricks, check out my article on The Fundamentals of How to Scramble Eggs.
You can also roast peppers in the oven or on the barbecue. Cooking times are roughly the same if you roast around 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Leave a Reply