Roasted Pepper Salad

I make this salad whenever I get a chance, especially if I have a bunch of peppers to hand (sometimes I buy extra for this very purpose). Most people are afraid of the peeling of the peppers but if you are careful to use this hack, it really isn’t difficult. And yeah, ya gotta peel them or it simply isn’t the same. I personally do not care for the taste of green peppers at any time but in this salad, have never seen green peppers used so go with red, orange or yellow peppers or a combination thereof to give a pretty multicolored hue to your salad.

Start by preheating the oven to 420 F /215 C (approx) and washing and drying your peppers and now this is my own little hack, slice them in half lengthwise like so:

Scoop out the innards, seeds and white membrane. This already will give you less hassle since most people do this after roasting and it’s a pain. Also, I’ve watched friends turn them over and over (some with bare hands, yikes! and this means no turning of the peppers). Next place cut side down on a piece of tin foil which you spray lightly with oil.

then lightly spray peppers with oil (olive is nice or just use a light hand with olive oil and smear all around the tops). Make sure your oven has truly come to temp and pop the peppers in. While they roast, approximately 40 minutes or till tops are nice and have charred blisters and have sort of sunken in like so:

make sure you have a heat resistant bowl with a snug lid. The reason this is critical is that you are trapping the steam from the hot peppers in the bowl with them. This is what releases the skins properly. No steam, hours of peeling off little bits and gnashing of teeth and wailing. So do it, really.

Good, carefully with a spatula so as not to burn yourself and so the peppers don’t split, scoop from baking sheet and place in bowl and immediately cover tightly. Walk away people, and have a cuppa and relax. This takes half an hour. If you do it sooner, the peppers do not steam sufficiently and see gnashing and wailing above.

As you can see, the steam is clouding the bowl. That is excellent, the better to peel you m’dear.

Half an hour later, you’ve assembled your lemon, cut it in half and juiced it, crushed your garlic and chopped some parsley and put in a bowl with some salt and olive oil. This is your dressing for the peppers.

Now remove the lid and start peeling. If you were patient (it’s a virtue!) the peel should come off a treat. It does take some time and I usually use gloves for this but it shouldn’t take too long.

As you can see, the peels come off in big swaths when done this way. If you miss a bit, no biggie, I won’t tell.

Slice into lengths and place in bowl with lemon juice, garlic, parsley and salt and toss about till coated. Definitely let marinate at least half an hour for best flavor. Wonderful as a salad but even better on a piece of bread or pita, maybe with a bit of techina on the side.

Roasted Pepper Salad

3-4 large firm peppers red, yellow or orange peppers or a combo
oil spray or olive oil for smearing
1 small lemon, scrubbed and halved
a small bunch of parsley, cleaned, dried and chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 scant teaspoon salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 420 F /215 C (approx) and wash and dry your peppers. Slice them lengthwise in half and remove green top and seeds and white membranes. Take a baking sheet and cover with tin foil and lightly spray with oil. Place peppers cut side down and lightly spray with oil or lightly smear with a bit of olive oil. Place into hot oven for 40 minutes or until tops are blistered and somewhat charred and a bit sunken in (not black all over, not necessary or desired). Immediately place the peppers while hot in a bowl with a snug lid to steam them to ease removal of their skins. Leave for 1/2 an hour. In the meantime, in a bowl, put the juice of the lemon, the parsley, garlic, olive oil and salt. Mix together. Then, peel the peels off the peppers (they should come off nicely after steaming but if you can’t get every speck off – don’t sweat it) place on a cutting board and cut into strips. Place in bowl with dressing and toss till well coated. Let marinate for at least half an hour. Keeps well in the fridge for at least a week if it lasts that long.