The Supporter

I have always looked up to my dad. Even in kindergarten, I was always boasting about my dad to my little friends. I bragged about how my daddy is traveling all around Southeast Asia as a missionary, bashing idols, laying hands on the crippled, and punishing the wicked. I told them they better watch out, because my daddy could whoop their daddies’ ass.

Ever since young, I admired and respected my dad, and looked up to him as my role model. Sad to say, I did not share the same pride and adulation for my mom.

Oh, I loved her, of course, as she is an extremely tender and caring mother. But I just didn’t look up to her to way I did my dad. My dad was always the stronger force, the leader, the king. He did active great works, he preached forcefully on stage, went out to all sorts of mission fields, and spoke words of powerful authority.

My mother was the quiet, gentle one. She was a mother and a housewife, and hid behind the shadow of my dad. My dad led, and she followed. I didn’t find anything admirable about that. I didn’t want to be a follower, I wanted to be a leader.

But as I grew up and got a bit more mature, my perspective started to change. I discovered that behind that mild, meek exterior of my mom lies a spirit of iron-steel. You know what they say: “Behind every great man is a great woman.” And that is the truth of truths.

Without my mom, my dad would never have been able to persist with his ministry so long. When trials and persecutions came, my mom was beside him to support him and encourage him. When he needed inspiration in his sermons, my mom fed him advices and ideas (sometimes unintentionally). When he came back home after a tiring night of preaching and teaching, my mom was always waiting for him with his favorite meal. When he needed to rewind after a long day at church, my mom kept him company with a glass of wine.

Thus I realized: There can be no great man (or woman) without a great supporter beside him. In fact, the supporter in the background is the greater hero…Because the supporter’s job is usually thankless and unaccredited. Yet the supporter plays a critical part in all of the accomplishments and successes of the great man.

Which was why I was rather pleased to discover that Jenn picked bell peppers as this week’s BSI. Finally, the humble bell pepper get the attention and accolades it deserves!

I mean, think about it: When was bell pepper ever the center-stage of a dish? It always plays the supporting role, cast off into the background to highlight the main character of the dish, be it beef or tofu or whatever. You don’t ever see “Bell Peppers and ______” in a menu. It’s always “______ with Bell Peppers”, if bell peppers are even mentioned in the name at all. Most of the time, it’s just listed as “vegetables”.

But…take out the bell peppers, and you’re left with an incomplete dish. Take the common “beef and bell peppers” for example. The bell peppers are usually ignored, and your focus would be on whether the beef is tender or not, or is the sauce tasty? But even if the beef was tender and the sauce was tasty, without bell peppers…the dish is just…blah. Something’s missing…no crunch, no sweetness. Just darn unsatisfactory.

Anyway, my main objective for this week’s BSI submission is not to make bell peppers the highlight of the dish, but to accent its supporting role. I hope I succeeded.

Double Bell Pepper-Grits with Poached Egg
Serves One

For the grits:

• about 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper flesh, roasted with the skin peeled off
• small tsp butter or oil
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 red onion, chopped finely
• 1/3 cup grits
• about 1 cup chicken broth
• about 1/2 cup milk 
• 1 wedge Laughing Cow garlic & herbs cheese
• 1 tablespoon Trader Joe’s roasted pepper-artichoke tapenade (optional)
• salt and pepper

For the bell pepper mix:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2~1 cup yellow and orange bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
• squeeze of lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Additional:

• large poached egg
• grated Parmesan cheese
• fresh ground black pepper

For the grits, I first pureed the roasted bell pepper into a paste and set that aside. Then I started cooking the garlic and onion in the butter. As soon as they softened up, I poured in the grits and the liquids. I let it simmer, stirring constantly, and adding more broth when necessary, until the grits swelled and thickened up. Then I rapidly mixed in the LC cheese and tapenade, and seasoned the grits to taste.

The bell pepper mix was a snap! Just sauté all the vegetables in a pan with the oil until soft, then stir in the dill and lemon juice at the end. Season to taste.

And then, to assemble, I just poured the grits into a bowl, topped it with the sautéed bell pepper mix, with a poached egg on top, and sprinkled the whole thing with Parmesan cheese and ground pepper.

What’s this? It actually looks sort of gourmet!

The Laughing Cow cheese really creamed up the grits, and the pureed roasted bell pepper in there brightened the color and the taste. It’s my first time trying grits, and now I don’t think I can ever have regular plain grits!

The sauteed bell pepper mix was so sweet and crunchy, such a great contrast in texture to the creamy grits!

So you’ve got bell peppers done two ways: roasted, and sautéed. Each method brings out different characteristics of the bell peppers.

And once again, the poached egg was just perfect! I’m really on a poached egg roll now!

One neat little bite with all the components…

Ha, who can overlook bell peppers now?

Thanks for choosing such a thoughtful ingredient for the BSI, Jenn!

Question of the day: Would you say you’re more of a leader, or a supporter?

I would say I’m more of a leader…I always have to have my way, and I like to boss people around. But these days…I’m envying the supporter role more and more. After experiencing several leadership positions, I’ve discovered that being a leader is not all that cracked up to be. In fact, it’s so tiring and exhausting to have to lead all the time! Taking a step back and letting others lead…now that just may be a smarter strategy.