Tomatoes, Onions and Green Peppers
By jiberish
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The Basics
Growing up in a Hungarian home, tomatoes, peppers and onions were the basis for many recipes. My grandparents were peasants who ate from the land, which means they grew their own vegetables, and raised chickens, pigs, and some even had a cow, which they used for dairy products. Today, they're known as farmers.
My mother is a chef in her own right, with no formal education, she has cooked for the elite in both Hungary and France. Her dishes could very well be featured in cookbooks and magazines, but in keeping with her tradition, home cooked meals were simple and inexpensive. There was no measuring, to this day it’s a pinch of this and a dab of that.
Shopping at fresh markets was a treat as a child, Saturday mornings were trips I looked forward to. We woke at 5am and headed for the market to get the freshest vegetables displayed by local farmers. The smells were exhilarating, to this day I smell my vegetables before buying them. It sounds weird but you can tell a lot about the freshness of a vegetable by the way it smells. I used to tell my sons “if it smells bad, don’t eat it”, which has been a continuing joke in our family.
The most important 3 vegetable were tomatoes, onions and bell peppers, with these three dishes recipes seemed to come alive, and I’m sure that my mother never considered their nutritional value.
Onions were known to be prescribed by doctors to facilitate bowel movements and erection, and also to relieve headaches, coughs, and hair loss. Some studies have shown that increased consumption of onions reduces the risk of head and neck cancers.
Bell peppers are high in Vitamin C Possibly due to their vitamin C and beta carotene content, bell peppers have been shown to be protective against cataracts.
Tomato consumption has been associated with decreased risk of breast cancer, head and neck cancers. New research is beginning to indicate that tomatoes may be used to help prevent lung cancer.
The other important ingredient in our household was Paprika. Hungary is a major source of high-quality paprika, in grades ranging from very sweet with a deep bright red to rather hot with a brownish orange color. High heat leaches the vitamins from peppers.
From the market to the pot.
Paprikas, pronounced Pup-re-kash, is the name we give to several dishes. There is chicken, beef, even sausage paprikas, but it all boils down to this; you start with onions, tomatoes, green peppers and Paprika. I would like to share this recipe with you for a better understanding of how it all comes together.
Chicken Paprikas
Onions (chopped)
Tomatoes (chopped)
Bell Pepper (chopped)
Paprika
Chicken (pieces)
Bullion (we use Knorr)
Sour cream (optional)
Oil
There is no measuring, because you can adjust this recipe to your taste.
Heat oil in a pan, add a chopped onion, brown.
Add about a table spoon of Paprika
Throw in the chicken, bell peppers, and tomatoes.
Add a little water, bullion, cover, and cook till chicken is tender.
If needed add a little more water later.
Salt & pepper to taste, maybe a little Lawry’s salt.
Add sour cream if desired. Serve with rice, potatoes or noodles.
For other Paprikas recipes substitute the chicken with other meats.
Enjoy, and let me know how you like it.
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Comments
Dear jiberish,
The recipe sounds delish. I would definitely use the sour cream. By the way I am still laughing when I think about Imadinnerjacket! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Partisan, if it smells fishy, it probably is. :)
Pop, nothing tops your breakfasts!
I bet you are a great cook. You make me hungry just reading this.
Keep on Hubbing!
I didn't know chicken paprikas was so easy. I love easy recipes and I'm certainly going to try this one. Thanks Jib.
Eovery, come over for dinner!
Flight, it is very easy, please be sure to adjust to your taste. thanks for visiting.
good recipe and one I will definitly try out and I can smell it from here.
jiberish I'm not Hungarian but I also cook the exact same way I never measure any ingrediants. Every time I cook a dish it tastes a little bit different.
The basics of onions, peppers, and tomatoes is a very good foundation for a large variety of dishes. I also like to add fresh mushrooms as a basic ingredient. I actually use these ingredients as a basis for a cabbage soup I make. I also add fresh chopped carrots along with either beef or chicken broth.
I do not think that I would have considered your family as peasants, I almost think they had it better and just did not know it! We to grew our own food and had pigs and chickens! There was always fresh food on the table from our garden and new inventive ideas from my mother! If we had not had a garden we would've maybe gone hungry a night or two! This is definitely something that I will have to try!! I love to try new and out of our ordinary food. Thank you for the fun facts on onions and tomatoes and how to say paprika! Very informative and I love information like that!
Heller, we had it for dinner, that must have been what you were smelling. :)
Tom, it sounds good. This is a basic recipe, doctoring it up with other veggies is great. Thank you.
Smarley, no offense on the peasant thing, 'farmers' loosely translated. I would still love to have a garden, but the market is just as good. Thank you, good luck!
Sounds like my kind of food, we use all three in abundance with everything we cook and if I did a recipe for a curry we eat regularly, you just throw in a bit of chicken and the spices for a fabulous tomato, onion and pepper based chicken curry. We love it.
Brian, curry sounds good, i'll have to try it. Thank you for stopping in.
I like the sound of this, it is my sort of cooking as we use peppers,tomatoes and onions a lot. I will give this recipe a try. Paprika will be a new taste for me; I never knew what to put it with before. Thank you.
Good Luck 2uesday, thanks for your visit.
Jiberish, That dish sounds deicious. I love peppers, onion and tomatoes, so there probably isn't a thing your mother would cook that I wouldn't like. good hub.
Pamela99, you have an open invitation for dinner. Thank you!
Oh, i like all vegies to be in my food specially the onions and green peppers! Nice recepie Thanks jiberish.
i love cooking with tomatoes, peppers and onions...they liven up any dish from an everyday pizza to yummy fajitas. very nice hub!
Thanks for the recipe, definitely going to give it a try. I grew up in south Louisiana, those three ingredients plus garlic are extremely common. Just the smell of those saute'n makes my mouth water.
Lots of feeling in your article. Thanks for that. I feel as though I am right with you smelling my veggies. I'll do that from now on thanks... Fiona
Allmom, smell away, LOL.
Looking for a hub to read and seeing the title, I just ate, but the prospect of learning more things about fresh veggies is important to me....bell peppers are obviously very good for you, but I find they tend to give me gas...I have shied away from them due to this fact....why oh why, I do not know, for I always did love the pepper so....
GREAT HUB!
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partisan patriot 2 years ago
You and Breakfastpop continue to make me hungry. As far as the smell test goes “if it smells bad, don’t eat it”, I believe the American People applied their version of it to Obama Care and it Smelled Bad to them!