PGM In Season | With Food + Love

TEXT by Katherine Oakes | PHOTOGRAPHS by With Food + Love

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At this time, PGM In Season and the summer is coming to close, and we're left feeling a mix of bittersweet emotions. Thankfully, our third and final community leader, Sherrie of With Food + Love is here to pull us out of the funk with a heavy dose of summertime meal inspiration. Her infectious energy leaps off the page and when combined with the fresh and exciting gluten-free, plant-based recipes she shares, Sherrie's blog truly lives up to its name and is one that we follow regularly.

Needless to say we are thrilled to have her finish up the PGM In Season summertime submission period here with her delectable recipe for stuffed peppers.

SUBMISSION PERIOD ENDS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH! CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT.

And while you're here, enjoy posts from our other two talented summer community leaders, Will Frolic for Food and Tending the Table to view an example of the perfect PGM In Season submission.

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5 Questions with Sherrie

WHAT THREE WORDS DESCRIBE YOU BEST?

Particular, passionate, sincere.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE INGREDIENT?

Just one? Yikes. Okay, this might be boring but it has to be salt - any decent quality sea salt really. It's so essential in the kitchen, especially when you're cooking plant-based food.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST KITCHEN FAILURE / ACHIEVEMENT?

My best kitchen achievement is starting my garden by seed this year! After living in the city (Denver, and then Philadelphia) for 10 years, without any outdoor space, I moved to the Midwest and finally had a backyard to call my own. I bought a grow lamp, started my seeds indoors over the winter, built three raised beds this spring and jumped headfirst into growing my own food. Halfway through the process I realized whoa, I am in too deep. I knew practically nothing about organic gardening, which is really hard by the way! So many mistakes were made, so many failures, and plants that didn't make it through, but I learned a lot through the process, both about food and life stuffs.

I have two very distinct kitchen failures! Both of them involved nearly severing a finger off completely, for real this happened. Once with a blender and my right ring finger when I was 13. And the other with a chef's knife and my left little pinky when I was 31.

HOW DO YOU INCORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY INTO YOUR LIFE?

My husband and I live a pretty simple life, but we don't take anything too seriously, or live by a set of strict rules either. We're just doing the best we can by making small intentional choices that add up to a bigger picture. We own one car, and walk whenever possible. We spend most of our days antique and thrift store shopping, placing value on purchasing second-hand goods. We try to grow a lot of our own food, and enjoy shopping at our local farmers' markets. But don't get me wrong, we love our Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, it's all about balance, right?

WHAT DOES EATING LOCAL, SEASONAL, ORGANIC FOOD MEAN TO YOU?

Cooking and creating with fresh, local, seasonal produce is everything to me. It's my livelihood. It's my fuel. It inspires me on a primal level.

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RATATOUILLE STUFFED PEPPERS WITH VEGAN PARM

Makes: 5
Takes: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced small
4 - 5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups tomatoes, diced medium
1 cup filtered water (divided in two)
1 cup eggplant, diced medium
1 cup zucchini, diced medium
1 large handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
sea salt
ground pepper
5 bell peppers
1 1/2 cups cooked rice, lentils or quinoa

Method

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a large saute pan heat the olive oil and onion over low for 5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent. Then add in the garlic, cook until slightly browned. Add in the white wine, stir and scape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then add in the tomatoes, and simmer on low for a few minutes. Then add in 1/2 cup of water and the eggplant, and simmer for about 5 more minutes, or until the eggplant is almost fully cooked. Season with another pinch of salt. Lastly, add in the zucchini and fresh basil leaves while cooking and stirring for just 1 minute or until the zucchini turns bright green and remove it from the heat.

Cut the tops off the green peppers and scoop out the seeds. Put a scoop of rice in the bottom of each pepper and fill each pepper up to the top with the ratatouille. Place the peppers in a baking dish and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the peppers are juicy and cooked through.

Top with vegan parm, and enjoy!

SUBMIT YOUR RECIPE BY SEPTEMBER 5TH! CLICK HERE!