if color is seeping out of them it means you're cooking them too slowly
they shouldn't lose so much water that they become soft, limp and leak out their color. cook them at a much higher temperature for a shorter time and they'll retain their water/crispiness even after cooking
I like them better soft and limp. Hmm that doesn't sound right.
i know what you mean (nohomo!)
sometimes when i cook bell peppers i like to cook them a bit slow and low to make them a bit soft and chewy. really fantastic for making a filling for fajitas. but when you're doing a stir fry or mixing them with some other food and they're visible on the plate you don't want that so you gotta hit them hard with extreme heat and cook them for a short time.
for what it's worth you need to do the same thing when you cook something like steak or chicken on a grill. high initial heat, cook the first side till it's about 60% done on 1 side (if that makes sense? The cooked color should be a bit higher than 50% of the way through the meat or food) then flip and cook til about 15%-25% done then take off the heat and the residual heat will cook the item to perfection. careful not to overdo meat - if the inside of a chicken breast or steak has turned a cooked color and it's still in the pan or on the grill it means it's overcooked, once you take it off the grill it'll continue to cook even harder making the meat fibers tough.
