So, as you’ve heard me before, I really hate wasting food. It’s a major sore spot for me and I get uber disappointed when I toss food that I didn’t get to in time.
Produce is an easy target…it’s highly perishable and good intentions in the grocery store don’t always lend to good outcomes once home.
Take for example these shriveled up jalapenos I had in my bowl today. I originally bought them for a recipe for jalapeno poppers (which, by the way were INSANELY good) from the Pioneer Woman. And not just run of the mill poppers…no, we’re talking BBQ smothered, bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers.
But the recipe calls for 18 peppers (I sometimes forget that she’s cooking for 6 and there’s only 2 of us and I need to scale down the recipe portions!). So I made the recipe using 1/2 the peppers, promising that I’d do another batch soon after.
Well, you know how this story goes…good intentions go out the window and today I’m staring at a bowl of shriveled peppers. Still safe to eat, but too wimpy to hold a hefty portion of cheesy stuffing. So I started thinking…how could I utilize this recipe yet with a twist?
I thought, CROSTINI’s! That’s it!
Totally gratifying to have made use of something that was close to being tossed and we both agreed that we liked them even better on crostini’s and will be adding to our rotation. Yum, yum, yum!
Because I changed the proportions some and changed ingredients and method, I feel safe listing the recipe here, but give mad props to The Pioneer Woman for the inspiration!
- 9 jalapeno peppers (or a mix of jalapeno and bell peppers if you need it a bit milder, which I might need to next time as some bites had me near crying; I’m a weenie!)
- 1 8oz. block cream cheese, softened to room temp.
- 1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 bunch of green onions (chopped down to the whites)
- 1/2 c. BBQ sauce
- 9 slices bacon
- a loaf of italian/french bread or about 14 slices of 4″x2″ crusty bread
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake your sliced bread for about 5 min. or until lightly golden and crunchy (like toast). Meanwhile cook up bacon to preferred level of “doneness” and set aside to chop, draining the pan of bacon grease, but not rinsing it out. Chop up bacon. Slice peppers lengthwise and remove membranes/seeds (wear gloves during the process…trust me on this!) and chop up; add to pan that was used to cook bacon. Add BBQ sauce and chopped bacon and cook for about 5 minutes. While cooking, make the cheese mixture (combine softened cream cheese, cheddar cheese and green onions) and spread over toasts. Top with pepper/bacon mixture and cook for 10-15 minutes until nice and melted. Grab a glass of milk and maybe even some celery sticks dipped in creamy salad dressing if you’re a wimp like me!
Enjoy! And remember to think outside of the box and come up with some creative ways to use up food before it goes bad!
Oh. My. Goodness! That looks fantastic! Now, I’m hungry and it’s definitely not even close to time to eat!
PS: my popper recipe includes sundried tomatoes and garlic in the cream cheese.
oh my…you need to share your recipe as well!!
I sure will… let me find it.