What can liven up my food the way bell peppers do, without being bell peppers?

I do not like bell peppers, though I like other peppers, so I hear what your housemates are singing.

My suggestion? MSG. It livens up savory dishes beautifully.

Why couldn’t you cook some chopped up peppers - sauteed, steamed, roasted - some day when the delicate noses are out of the house? Cook an onion, too, to disguise the horrid stench, and open up the windows. Then bag them up and freeze them. That way, you’ll have cooked peppers on hand to put in your own portion.

Yes, I know that’s not what anyone wants to hear, and other ‘liven it up’ suggestions are requested. But that’s what I would do.

I should think that anyone who has such a problem with bell peppers would have the same problem with chilis. Bell peppers are basically chilis without the capsaicin.

True, and my suggestions have more to do with perking up a recipe than with substituting green pepper, but I was thinking pickled non-spicy chilis. I’ve been enjoying them in recent weeks with different kinds of stewed beans. Served very cold, they’re uniquely refreshing, just when you get a little tired of plowing through a big ol’ plate of red beans or lentils, for example. I can’t really handle the heat of regular chilis, but the non-spicy kind are a delight.

Something that may be a bit fun could be bamboo shoots.

They have a similar texture to peppers (kinda), and don’t carry much flavor by themselves.

Soak them in some vinaigrette for a bit before adding them, maybe chop them into thinner slices.
Or just make a snack. I’ll open up a can, sprinkle some garlic powder over top, then pour in teriyaki sauce to dissolve the garlic and soak the shoots. Let it sit that way for 15- 20 minutes, then eat raw, maybe with a bit of wasabi to dip in.

I like other forms of peppers, but not bell peppers. They taste like good peppers gone bad to me.

Have you ever tried peppadews? They’re a sweet, slightly spicy kind of pepper. Perhaps they might be acceptable to your household:

Bell peppers are just crunchy grass clippings. Other peppers add heat, and many have less grassy flavour. So, no, not liking bells doesn’t suggest not liking other peppers.

I love green chilies, but I loathe bell peppers. Any color. I don’t like the smell, and they cause terrible heartburn and upset stomach. Green Chilies don’t.

I love both, but this is not at all my experience with folks who don’t like bells (and there’s a lot out there.)

If no-one will eat the peppered food the OP makes except the OP, they can make their own damn food, is my take.

Water chestnuts? Radishes (sparingly!)? Some other kind of chile?

I see jars of all kinds of marinated vegetables, including roasted red and yellow bell peppers, artichokes, eggplant, etc. in the ‘Italian’ aisle. How about those?

Of possible interest:

I have always hated green peppers, and many foods are ruined by them even if I pick them out. OTOH, I enjoy red peppers and green chiles. In red peppers, the distinctive chemical compounds have largely broken down during ripening.

That’s good to know, that there’s something distinctive about green bell peppers that makes them taste/smell so off to me.

Other possible solutions:

  1. Use red peppers (which aren’t as obvious as green peppers), chop them so small that your family won’t notice.

  2. Divide the food into 2 batches, add peppers to your serving.

Um, no. Hating the taste of bell peppers does not make one a picky eater! What in the OP leads you to say that? I don’t have many deal breakers when it comes to food, but bell peppers just happen to be one of them. I love onions, garlic, and all manner of spicy, pungent food, including hot peppers and cilantro (which many people hate). In my experience, I am far from alone in this.

I like the suggestion of cooking up some peppers separately and then adding them to your portion. If you’re doing the cooking, the people who don’t like the smell can suck it up and let you have your peppers. :slight_smile:

I don’t like bell peppers but find sweet mini-peppers acceptable. Especially in very small pieces.

Green bell peppers are basically nutritious, fibrous, almost-flavorless vegetables, to which nobody is allergic, and which nobody objects to unless they’ve learned that behavior.

Cook your sauce. Begin with at least 4 large onions, 2-3 green bell peppers, a head of garlic, peeled*, a couple stalks of celery, a medium-sized minced carrot (unless you don’t mind adding a spoonful of sugar later), and finely-chopped mushrooms cooking slowly in olive oil. Use enough vegetables to fill the pot plus a little. Stir slowly enough to let them brown but not burn. This can take a couple of hours, because you’re not adding salt yet.

When all this is reduced to a thick brown paste 1/5 or less of its original volume, add black pepper, 1-3 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice or apple cider vinegar (I tend to like less acid as I get older), 1 tablespoon of sugar (if you didn’t add the carrot), and your choice of oregano, basil, parsley, tarragon, or some combination thereof. Add a cup of wine, red or white, and a cup of stock, chicken or beef, and a cup of water, or (again) some combination thereof. Reduce by about half.

Then. Use your stick blender (sorry-forgot to tell you to buy one, but I guess you could let it cool a little and use a blender or food processor)) and turn it all into a slurry in which neither green peppers, onions, nor anything else is recognizable to finicky people.

Having done this, add your preferred combination of tomatoes, tomato paste, canned crushed tomatoes, and cook until it’s about halfway to your desired thickness. Then taste it, and add salt and red pepper a tsp at a time until you like it.

If you want meat, cook it separately.

*If you peel the garlic, then boil it for 10 minutes, then mash/stir it into a paste, it’s mellower and easier to use.

It’s times like this when I wonder why I even bother with this board.