Red Pepper Poppers
Recently, I hosted a raw food pot luck at my home. Talking to everyone, at all levels of involvement with raw food was interesting and enlightening. It is always fun to see what raw food dishes people show up with. One couple brought some jalapeno poppers, made the raw food way. They were very good. I was inspired to take a shot at it and see what I could come up with.
Instead of using green jalapeno’s, I opted for small red cayenne peppers, for the color and the ripeness. The heat is about the same. The filling is made from pine nuts, cashews and a few other ingredients. Eggplant “bacon” tops completes the bite size morsels. There are quite a few recipes out there for eggplant “bacon”. This one was inspired by a trip to the spice shop and a desire to make it quick and easy. It turned out great. I had to fight my daughter to keep enough for the photos!
Pepper Poppers with Pine Nut Filling and "Bacon"
The day before, make the bacon.
Eggplant Bacon
- 1 eggplant
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle peppers (I get them pre-ground)
- 2 tablespoons agave (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
- Using a vegetable peeler or mandolin, slice the eggplant into strips about 1/8″ thick. Set aside.
- Mix together marinade ingredients.
- Place eggplant in marinade, making sure all is covered. Cover and let soak for 2-3 hours.
- Dehydrate at 116 for at least 12 hours, or until crisp.
The day of:
Pine Nut Filling
- 1 1/2 cups pine nuts (presoak for 4-5 hours.)
- 1/2 cup cashews (pre-soak for 4-5 hours)
- 1 1/2 lemons (juice from)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (not considered raw, but used frequently in raw food recipes)
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- pinch salt
- 1/2 red pepper
- Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.
Assembly
- 10 cayenne peppers
- pine nut filling
- eggplant bacon
- Cut peppers in half and remove seeds. I use plastic gloves when doing this. Be careful to not touch your face while doing this. The heat is in the seeds.
- Fill pepper halves with pine nut “cheese” and top with eggplant bacon. Enjoy!!
Melody wrote on July 11, 2013
I am trying this recipe for the first time as we speak so I’ll let ya know how it turns out. One idea I have is that sometimes I find that I have to have my food dehydrator at a bit higher temperature than some people so you could try that and also would it make a difference if you live in a very humid climate as to getting the bacon crisper or not?
Susan wrote on July 12, 2013
Higher temperatures can affect the raw status so you will want to be careful. If you are expecting the same crispness of real bacon, it isn’t going to happen. This is eggplant. That said, it is delicious.
Susan wrote on May 10, 2013
First, you should understand that the texture of the “bacon” will never be like fried bacon. Not that crisp. But it shouldn’t be limp, either. Maybe you cut the pieces too thick? Thin is best.
Lynette Strickland wrote on May 10, 2013
Yes, I drained off the marinade and am still drying them on screens- just not crispy yet at all…kind of floppy 🙁
Lynette Strickland wrote on May 10, 2013
Please help! I followed this recipe to a “t” and all I got was a bunch of limp yellow strips of eggplant. I dehydrated it forever. Your is so beautiful…what am I doing wrong?
Susan wrote on May 10, 2013
Did you drain off the marinade and dehydrate it on screens?
Tamara wrote on March 18, 2013
Hi! I like a lot of your recipes and noticed you use a dehydrator quite a bit. Being that I’m just “trying” a few raw recipes, is there another option for dehydrating?
Sandy wrote on February 22, 2013
AMAZING! I am researching the raw diet for my family(which consist of 3 carnivores and a vegetarian). One of my thoughts were ‘what about the ‘poppers’? Now I know! Thanks!
Alina wrote on November 7, 2012
No salt??
Laurie wrote on March 26, 2012
YUM! Although I haven’t prepared jalapeno poppers in my kitchen… your pictures are inspiring! I have ordered them from a local company, and they are addictively good. I like the attention you pay to the fact that jalapeno’s are not ripe when green, so you choose the other spicy red peppers… many people are unaware of that little fact. 😉 I think I will find some spicy red peppers and experiment with your recipe. Many thanks!
Susan wrote on December 1, 2011
http://www.penzeys.com/