There’s something yummy about those sweet peppers that pop with flavourful juiciness in your mouth. The vibrant colours and different flavours of this wonderful vegetable make it the perfect side (or even star) to any meal.
Mostly, you’ll find that this type of dish is fried in a ton of oil for literally no reason whatsoever. In this recipe, we are going to show you how easy it is to make perfectly charred bell peppers with no oil and you’re never going to look back.
What’s The Deal With Oils?
It may come as a revelation to you, but you don’t need to use oils to cook your food. In fact, the whole foods plant based diet is inherently oil free and touted as one of the healthiest ways of eating. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be eating fats in general, rather whole fats still attached to the whole food, such as nuts, seeds, olives, coconut meat and avocados.
Oils are generally considered a nutrient-devoid food. Lots of calories for relatively few, if no, nutrients. Yes, oils may contain some beneficial omega fats, but they also are not generally good for you in any other respect, and you can easily get those essential fatty acids from eating the whole food as nature intended.
How To Char Bell Peppers With ZERO oils
There is a way you can cook pretty much ALL foods completely OIL FREE and these charred bell peppers are an amazing and very delicious example of that.
The trick with any oil free frying specifically is to make sure you have a good non-stick pan to begin with. If you don’t spend the money on a half decent pan, you may find it more difficult to prevent sticking.
The second vital trick to oil free cooking is to always have a kettle of hot water by your side ready to splash into the pan incrementally. Learning how to let the food fry enough to get some good caramelisation, before splashing with water to prevent complete sticking, is a vital skill going forward on your whole foods plant based diet.
Potential Issues With Oil Free Cooking
Not using oil, especially to fry on the stove top, will cause a lot of smoke to emit from your cooking. This is especially so if you’re not sure what you’re doing yet and you let the food burn too much before using your water or stock to prevent sticking. It’s a fine balance that you will master over time.
You must be sure to have your extractor fan going above your oven. It may also behoove you to open a window to allow as much air in as possible, and to also keep an eye on your pan at all times. Never leave a pan unattended at any time when frying.
Other Veggies To Char Without Oil
It’s not just bell peppers that taste great without oil. Onions, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, Chinese-style stir-frys, casseroles, soups, pretty much EVERTHING that you normally use oil to cook can taste just as good (if not better) with the omission of oils.
Once you begin your oil free journey, you’ll begin to wonder why anyone ever bothered with oils to begin with. You can now cook ALL plant based foods without damaging your body from overly heated oils and also help to keep your weight under control at the same time. What’s not to like?
Give oil free cooking a try with our utterly delicious charred bell peppers and you’ll never look back.
What To Serve With Perfectly Charred Bell Peppers
This pepper dish is generally a side dish that will work well with most meals, but you can also serve it with:-
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Jacket potatoes
- Pasta
- At a BBQ
- With a burger in a bun
- On its own as a healthy meal or snack
The peppers in this recipe are made with chili and lemon, but other flavours can work well too.
Try adding the following to mix things up:-
- Curry powder
- Jumbalaya seasonings
- Mexican seasonings such as paprika and cumin
- Chinese seasonings such as soy sauce and Five Spice
- Italian seasonings such as paprika, oregano, marjoram and basil
How To Make Perfectly Charred Bell Peppers With NO oil!
Equipment
- Non stick skillet or frying pan
- Fish slice
- Chopping board
- Chopping knife
Ingredients
- Mix of all the different coloured bell peppers red, yellow and orange are the sweetest ones. Use about 3 whole peppers in total for this recipe.
- 1 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Chili flakes to taste
- Cracked black pepper
- Juice of one whole lemon to serve
- Kettle of hot water for splashing
Instructions
- Start by coring and chopping your peppers into around 4 pieces each.
- Grab yourself a big, non-stick and heavy bottomed pan and put onto the highest heat of your hob. This is going to smoke, so keep this in mind if you have fire alarms nearby because they may go off.
- Once hot, add a splash of hot water to the pan along with your tamari sauce. Place your peppers skin side down and evenly in the pan, rather than just throwing them in. They need their own space to cook on both sides.
- Sprinkle your peppers with the chili, pepper and garlic.
- Keep your heat on the highest setting and let your peppers char up completely on the first side. You will need to keep adding splashes of hot water every time your pan starts to smoke up too much, but don't be scared of letting them dry out a bit to char. The process of charring and splashing with hot water may take around 6-8 minutes.
- Once you have desired charring on your first side, turn your peppers over and let them cook a little more. Push them down slightly with a spatula now you are on the side that won't be touching the pan properly due to the different shape of the pepper. Do this for another few minutes to make sure they are soft and cooked through. Keep splashing with hot water to prevent smoking and drying as you go.
- Lastly, turn off heat but keep your pan on the heat source. Add your lemon juice and stir into your peppers. This should create a slight jus when it mixes with the blackened peppers and the pan juices. Add a little more water if you want more jus, but don't over-do it or you'll water down the flavours.
- Serve as a side dish, or alone with rice, quinoa or pasta.
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If you liked our delicious charred bell peppers without the oil just as much as the regular, then be sure to share this recipe with your friends.
Let’s bring about a plant based revolution!
