Stuffed peppers for dinner

And now for something completely different...If you know me, you know I like to make things up as I go along, and nowhere is this more evident than in the kitchen. Recipe? You must be joking. I just cook the stuff I have around. Usually I like to make sauces, with nothing to put them on. Years ago I realized that I really only wanted the sauce anyway, so I often sit down with a nice bowl of sauce for dinner.The success of this method requires having 1) a great spice rack, 2) some staples like olive oil, onions, garlic, and a few cans of coconut milk, vegetables, and/or tuna around at all times, and 3) buying weird foodstuffs from time to time "just because". Also 4) a sense of adventure, and 5) some takeout menus, just in case.A few nights ago I had a huge success! Allow me to present my stuffed peppers:...and because it was such a success, I even have a half-assed recipe, so I can attempt to make something similar again in the future. Note that all measurements are totally approximate. I didn't measure anything while cooking, and I'm guessing at amounts after eating, so there's a very low level of precision. If you want to make something like this, I definitely recommend substituting with whatever you have/think sounds good.Peppers/stuffing:

• 2 large red bell peppers
• olive oil as needed
• 1 onion (white or yellow)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 big pinches dried basil
• 1 pinch cinnamon powder
• 1 teaspoon or so paprika
• a few cranks of freshly-ground pepper
• a pinch of salt
• 1 apple
• 1 breadstick
• 2 big spoonfuls hummus (around 1/3 cup)
• 2 slightly less big spoonfuls yogurt (nonfat) (around 1/4 cup)
• 1/8 cup pine nuts
• 2 oz or so cheddar cheese
• 1 lemon

Sauce & garnish:

• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, depending on how hot it is and how hot you like it
• a dash of ouzo
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 5 pieces crystallized ginger
• 2 ripe plums

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius/375 degrees Fahrenheit, or something like that.Stuffing:Carmelize onion, garlic in olive oil. Add paprika, cinnamon powder, basil, and pepper.Chop apple into pieces and cut lemon in half; then in a bowl, combine apple, hummus, yogurt, crushed breadstick, juice of 1/2 lemon, salt, onion mixture, cheese, and pine nuts.After I got this far I tasted it and thought it was...for lack of a better word...round. I wanted to create something to balance that out by cutting through with sweetness and spice. That's when I decided to make a sauce.Prepare and stuff the peppers:Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds and stuff from the insides. Fill the peppers with the stuffing and put the tops back on. Put in a pan in the oven. Cook until the tops get bubbly and a bit blackened, and the pepper softens up; it may have been around 30 minutes and it definitely wasn't less than 20.Sauce (easy to make while the peppers are cooking):In a small saucepan, combine maybe 1/2 tbsp olive oil, chili powder, and cinnamon stick. Add ginger, ouzo, and a splash of the Smirnoff Ice you're drinking. (Don't judge yourself; they're refreshing.) Add the other half of the lemon juice and the honey. Simmer; remove and cover.Take out the peppers, take off their tiny hats, and pour the sauce over them. Cut the plums in half and add two halves to each plate. Voila! We served it with ouzo becuase, obviously, we had some.Lefteris was pretty excited about it.