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 T Olive Oil
- 1/4 C Water
- 1 t. Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 t. Ground Chipotle Peppers (I get them pre-ground)
- 2 T Agave
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 C Pine Nuts (presoak for 4-5 hours.)
- 1/2 C Cashews (pre-soak for 4-5 hours)
- 1 1/2 Lemons (juice from)
- 1/4 C Water
- 2 T Nutritional Yeast (not considered raw, but used frequently in raw food recipes)
- 1 T Smoked Paprika
- pinch salt
- 1/2 Red Pepper
Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.
Assembly
- 10 Cayenne Peppers
- 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!!
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No salt??
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!
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?
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?
Did you drain off the marinade and dehydrate it on screens?
Yes, I drained off the marinade and am still drying them on screens- just not crispy yet at all…kind of floppy
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.
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