Cook of the Month

Primed for

Peppers

Food styling and photos: Brooke Echols

Summer and fall are the prime seasons for fresh peppers, whether you’ve grown them in your garden or picked some up at your local farmer’s market. “They are low in calories and burst in flavor,” says Sheree Taylor, Human Sciences Regional Extension Agent for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. “Peppers can be crisp, sweet or spicy.” Not to mention they come in green, red, orange or yellow colors and sometimes a bit of all four. All colors of peppers have nutritional benefits, Taylor says, but red peppers actually have higher antioxidant and phytonutrient levels, because they are riper. They also supply more potassium, Vitamin C and folate, she adds. But all peppers are nutritious and easy to add to any meal. “People can slice them, eat them raw, grilled, sauteed or roasted. When preparing foods with peppers, be mindful that boiling or cooking them may cause a loss of 50% of the nutrients,” Taylor advises. Instead of boiling or steaming, she recommends dry heat methods such as stir-frying or roasting. “Peppers can bring not only color to our plate, but flavor,” Taylor says. “They are packed with nutrients and can be incorporated in ways that can fit the desires of anyone’s tastebuds.” – Lenore Vickrey

Stuffed Pepper Bowl

There are many great ways to use peppers in delicious ways. My favorite way is to make a dish sweet and colorful. In the Brooke Burks summer, I like to keep things light and delicious, so using multi-colored bell peppers in dishes is a great way to do that. As pleasing to the eye as the tummy, these peppers quickly steal the show! Enjoy! Find more easy recipes like this one from Brooke at thebutteredhome.com.

Sheet Pan Mediterranean Chicken and Vegetables

3-4 8-ounce chicken breasts or tenderloins 1 zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 yellow squash, cut into bite-sized pieces 1-2 bell peppers, sliced, any color 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper ¼-½ cup crumbled feta cheese 1 teaspoon dried oregano 2 tablespoons minced garlic 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken on one end of a sheet pan (parchment paper optional). Dice and prep vegetables and place in a large bowl. Drizzle chicken and vegetables with a bit of olive oil and lightly season with salt and pepper. Arrange vegetables next to chicken on the sheet pan, making sure they are in a single layer. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes, checking often to stir vegetables or turn chicken. Chicken is done when it reaches internal temperature of 160-165 degrees. Allow to rest before serving. While chicken and vegetables are baking, assemble ingredients for dressing. In a medium bowl, combine minced garlic, lemon juice, oregano and olive oil. Whisk together well. When protein and vegetables are done, arrange as desired on a serving platter. Drizzle dressing over chicken and vegetables right before serving and garnish with feta cheese.

Photo by The Buttered Home

Louis Toth, Arab EC

Like many of us, Louis Toth remembers watching his mother and grandmother cook meals during his growing-up years. “They never wrote anything down,” he says, so using his engineering background, he recreated those favorite childhood dishes and tweaked them to his liking and those of his son’s family in Arab, where Louis moved after retiring from his job in New Jersey. His grandparents emigrated from Hungary, where dishes like stuffed peppers and stuffed cabbage rolls were staples in their diet. His winning “Stuffed Peppers” recipe calls for ground pork, which results in a sweeter flavor than the traditional ground beef. He also cooks his peppers on the stove, not the oven. “I enjoy the pork,” he says, and so do his granddaughters, who enjoy helping their granddad in the kitchen. “I also like to make meatballs with a mixture of ground beef and pork. It makes a difference in the taste.”

Louis Toth

Stuffed Peppers

5½ quart Dutch oven or stock pot 7 medium-large, green bell peppers (other color peppers are also fine) 1 pound ground pork 1 cup raw, long grain, white rice 2 28-ounce cans tomato sauce 2 cups whole milk or half and half (or more for a creamier sauce) 2 cups water (to adjust sauce thickness) 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

Parboil rice to begin. Place rice into a strainer and rinse with cold water. Bring a large pot of water (sufficient to completely cover the raw rice and allow for its expansion during cooking) to boiling. Add rinsed rice, return to boil, then reduce heat to gently parboil the rice for 10 minutes; strain rice, rinse with cold water and let cool. Cut tops off of the peppers and carefully scoop out the seeds and membranes. In a large bowl whisk together the tomato sauce, milk and water. In another large bowl gently mix the pork, cooled rice, paprika, salt and 1/2 cup of the blended sauce together. Stuff the peppers 3/4 full with the meat mixture. (Mixture will expand slightly when cooked.) Place stuffed peppers standing up in a tall pot or Dutch oven. Gently pour the remaining sauce mixture over the peppers to cover. (If you have any leftover filling, you can form them into meatballs and add to the pot.) Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes. To serve: Place a pepper in a serving bowl and ladle some sauce over the pepper. Serve with white or rye bread on the side.

1 pound ground beef 2 cups rice, cooked 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, diced 4 bell peppers, chopped 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, do not drain ½-1 cup beef broth or water 1 15-ounce can black beans (optional) ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese or more, to taste 2 teaspoons chili powder 2 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon cilantro ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook rice according to package instructions. Brown beef in skillet until cooked. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about five minutes. Add bell pepper and cook until almost soft, about seven minutes. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, cooked beef, broth (or water), black beans if using, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer for twenty minutes, adding more broth if it begins to run dry. Remove from heat. Stir in cheddar cheese until melted. Serve immediately over rice. Note: depending on temperature of pan or other factors, you may need more or less broth.

Kelsey Rumler Wiregrass EC

Raspberry Cream Cheese Jalapeño Peppers

9 jalapeños 4 ounces softened cream cheese ¼ cup raspberry preserves 18 slices bacon

Cut the jalapeños in half, scrape the seeds and ribs from the pepper. Combine raspberry preserves and softened cream cheese. Fill each pepper boat with cream cheese and raspberry preserves. Wrap each pepper with bacon and place on a baking pan. Preheat grill to 350 degrees and place peppers on the indirect side of grill for 30 minutes until the bacon is crisp and the cheese bubbly.

Kirk Vantrease Cullman EC 1 pound ground beef or turkey ½ yellow green and red bell peppers, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 1 zucchini squash, chopped 1 tablespoon cooking oil 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Cook meat and drain, then sauté chopped vegetables for 10-15 minutes. Add in one tablespoon oil, add meat back in with seasoning and cook for 10 minutes.

Lends Dodd Joe Wheeler EMC

Be creative with your peppers:

• Chop a variety of colors and add to salads with greens, pasta salad or tuna • Saute with onions as a side dish • Add to omelets, quiche or pizza

Raspberry Cream Cheese Jalapeno Peppers

Holiday Cookie

CONTEST

Calling all bakers! Do you have a favorite holiday cookie recipe or special cookies you take to all the holiday parties and cookie exchanges? Share your favorite holiday cookie recipes with us for a chance to win! Enter online at www.alabamaliving.com. Each entry must include your name, address and phone number as well as the name of your electric cooperative. Entries may also be mailed to Alabama Living Cookie Contest, PO Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124. Entry

deadline is September 2, 2022.

Submit to win $50!

Recipes can be developed by you or family members. You may even adapt a recipe from another source by changing as little as the amount of one ingredient. Chosen cooks may win “Cook of the Month” only once per calendar year. To be eligible, submissions must include a name, phone number, mailing address and co-op name. Alabama Living reserves the right to reprint recipes in our other publications.

Themes and Deadlines:

November: Turkey leftovers | August 5 December: Holiday Cookie Contest | September 2 January: Kids who cook | October 7

3 ways to submit:

Online: alabamaliving.coop Email: recipes@alabamaliving.coop Mail: Attn: Recipes P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124

A plan

We’ve always heard, “You need a plan to get anything done.” That is taught in all business schools and recognized by people who don’t manage anything other than their own lives. My favorite quote about “plans” is from the noted philosopher and past world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.”

Most of us in following our plans have found Mike is right. We start with a plan, something goes sideways, and we find ourselves adrift. Climate movement plans -- whether the Paris Accord, Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050, elimination of all fossil fuels, the immediate mandate of electric vehicles, or others -- are really all different concepts promoted by different people and groups with various motives. For instance, some groups feel nuclear power is a great substitute for fossil fuels because it is carbon-free. Other groups totally reject nuclear power as too dangerous or too expensive, or those groups are concerned about nuclear waste.

In addition to already disjointed directions and inconsistency of climate plans, the entire climate movement was punched in the mouth by Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Serious people are now questioning how the most basic concepts of climate plans can be achieved.

I commented in an earlier article about Biden Climate Czar, John Kerry, and his comments regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how he hoped the invasion didn’t result in lost focus on climate change actions. The comment (while just silly as thousands of people were being killed in an invasion) demonstrates a lack of understanding of energy basics and how energy is used. For instance, how effective will an electric tank be? How could you recharge it in the middle of a battle? Gasoline or diesel fuel are much better wartime solutions. Equally so, how about electric helicopters or airplanes? And you can’t rely on systems only developed for wartime. Supply chains and delivery systems must be developed and maintained for normal commerce – not during times of war.

A plan to reduce carbon emissions must meet certain parameters and have specific economic attributes to succeed against punches in the mouth from Russia, the weather, or the economy.

A successful plan must recognize that success and wealth are built on readily available and affordable energy. This country was built on cheap energy, and its success will always depend on cheap energy. Some in the climate movement feel cheap energy is ruining the world and that energy must be restricted for the good of humanity. That philosophy is counter to global development and prosperity, and it will never be embraced by the people of the world.

A successful plan must also include provisions to bring affordable energy to third world countries and emerging nations. Denying developing nations access to affordable energy by restricting energy growth to only renewable sources is morally wrong. As one African leader recently said, “No country has been built on solar and wind energy.”

A successful plan also must recognize the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. It merely changes form. And each time energy changes form, some of it is lost and cannot be converted to electric energy. Current plans naively demand for curtailment of fossil fuels by a certain date not too far into the future and a switch to renewable energy sources like solar and wind. The facts of energy are enough to show that the world will never be completely powered by renewable energy. It is too intermittent. Unlike fossil-fuel fired generators, solar and wind do not have the rotating mass needed to support the stability of the electric grid. Too many in the climate movement think setting certain dates to eliminate fossil fuel use will somehow drive new technology and result in a seamless transition. That is just not the case. There needs to be a serious plan for a successful transition.

Any viable path to a carbon constrained future will require “investable” technology. Business always drives transitions, and it requires long horizons to recover research and development costs and capital. Constantly changing plans and directions will not attract the long-term investments necessary to accomplish the goal.

Successful plans will also have to bridge political lines and be acceptable to Democrats and Republicans. Both parties must step back from radical positions to find workable, affordable and practical compromises. The extreme “shut it down now” or “we will never change” positions will only lead to further polarization and no viable solutions. Success will never be found behind sidewalk bullhorn politics.

The climate change movement has met its Mike Tyson moment. How plans are developed in the future will dictate the direction and success of global energy policy. How the movements and the counter-movements react will decide if any de-carbonization plan will be successful.

The Ukraine war presents an opportunity to redesign the global energy future, but I am not optimistic. I expect most everyone will continue to double down on silly and impossible plans that keep getting hit in the mouth.

I hope you have a good month.

Gary Smith is President and CEO of PowerSouth Energy Cooperative.

Celebrating hard-working people during the summer heatwaves

As temperatures continue to soar this summer, TVA and local power companies had six days with energy demand above 30,000 megawatts in June alone. To put that in perspective, one megawatt is enough energy to power 585 homes. For the first time in history, TVA had peak demands above 31,000 MW during a single week in June.

Working with local power companies, we were able to ensure our power system in the Valley remained stable, reliable, and resilient at the start of this especially hot summer.

Building margins into system planning helps ensure the power grid remains stable and secure during high demand periods, even with the increased load and economic growth seen in the pandemic recovery.

According to Jacinda Woodward, senior vice president of TVA’s Power Operations, generating upwards of 30,000 megawatts day after day is not easy, but thanks to a diverse generation portfolio, our dedicated employees managed to maintain reliability day after day.

She points out, for example, that using hydro and nuclear assets allowed us to meet the need while keeping costs low. Using simple combustion turbine gas units—which normally serve only peaking power— around the clock helped keep reliability high.

According to Greg Henrich, vice president of Transmission Operations and Power Supply, keeping costs low in the face of high demand is a balancing act: “You have to balance between a margin of safety on the system, and maintain low rates by not overpreparing for an extreme event. We have 253 generating assets, so making decisions about which ones we’re going to run and when is a big part of the equation.”

Heinrich also notes that the Valley’s transmission system ran efficiently with minimum congestion. He says, “We’ve been running an integrated transmission and generation model for almost 90 years and have the experience and expertise to perform very well.”

Both Henrich and Woodward agree that aside from strong asset performance, the key to TVA’s resiliency is our hard-working employees.

Dylan Cornette, a system operator for TVA’s Balancing Authority, spent the heatwave in June running on coffee and adrenaline, noting that things were tight and there was a lot to consider in dispatching the units we needed to meet the demand.

At the plants, pressure was likewise high during the record-setting June.

“We were moving 10,000 to 13,000 tons of coal a day to meet

the needs, and many of us have worked 12- to 14-hour days, day after day, to make sure we were providing optimal power to the grid,” says Hunter Cason, a coal-hauling foreman at Gallatin Fossil Plant outside Nashville. “During the triple digit days, we knew our work was helping provide reliable power for our friends, families, grandmothers and literally the 10 million people of the Valley who rely on us when it’s burning hot, freezing cold, or bad weather. We are here for them because we believe in the mission of TVA to make life better for people in the Valley.” Kevin Chandler is the customer relations director, Regional Relations South, As high temperatures are expected to continue throughout the summer, TVA and local power company teams will remain fofor the Tennessee Valley Authority. cused on ensuring electricity remains reliable for the 10 million Valley residents we serve during these extreme conditions.

TVA employees work to keep air conditioners humming and lights glowing throughout the Valley this summer.

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