Discovering the Magic of Bell Pepper: Sautéed Bottle Gourd with Sardines

Lately, I've been trying extra hard to cook healthier meals for my family.
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‎It's necessary, especially now that I'm more aware of what we eat and how it affects our bodies.
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‎At the same time, I have to be realistic.
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‎Healthy food should not break the budget, especially for families like ours who are learning to live within our means.
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‎On one of my market trips, I saw bottle gourd (upo) being sold for just 20 pesos/$0.339.
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‎For its partner, I bought sardines at the grocery, also worth 20 pesos/$0.339.
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‎In total, it's just 40 pesos/$0.678.
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‎Ingredients
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‎• Bottle gourd (upo) - about 2 cups / 1 medium-sized
‎• Sardines in tomato sauce - 1 small can (155 g)
‎• Tomato - 1 small
‎• Red onion - 1 small
‎• Garlic - 3 cloves
‎• Red bell pepper - 1/2 small
‎• Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
‎• Salt
‎• Ground black pepper - a pinch
‎• Water - 1/2 cup
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‎Step-by-step process
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‎• After preparing all the ingredients, in a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Add the minced garlic, chopped onion, chopped tomato, and the sliced red bell pepper. Sauté it until fragrant, or until it becomes soft.
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‎• After that, add the sardines together with their tomato sauce. Be careful not to break the fish too much. Let it simmer for a minute so the flavors blend.
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‎• Add about 1/2 cup of water, just enough to loosen the sauce and allow the vegetables to cook properly.
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‎• Then, add the sliced bottle gourd, salt, and a pinch of ground black pepper.
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‎• Next, gently mix it, and cover the pan for 5-7 minutes, or until the upo is tender but slightly crisp.
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‎And that's it...
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‎Presenting Sauteed Bottle Gourd With Sardines!!
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‎Taste Test
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‎The moment I tasted the dish, I honestly didn't expect that the bell pepper would make it special.
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‎That small addition changed everything.
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‎It gives the dish a richer taste, almost like I was eating something with meat in it.
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‎Who would have thought this was only a 40-peso meal?
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‎It didn't taste cheap at all. 😍
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‎This was the first time I truly appreciated bell pepper in a dish.
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‎It became an ingredient that elevated the entire meal.
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‎That's why I love experimenting in the kitchen, it leads me to a rewarding discoveries.
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‎Until my next cooking experience...
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‎Thanks for the visit! Have a lovely day. Buh-bye. 💗🌸
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‎All images used in this post are my own unless stated otherwise.
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