Roasted Red Pepper recipe

Good morning fellow goddesses!

A trip to the farmers market today provided me about 7 large, firm red peppers. I love peppers. I toss them in salads, in skillets, in an omelette. But I must admit, whenever I make my roasted red pepper salad creates the most oohs and aaahs from friends. And who doesn’t love a bit of appreciation from all their hard work? Ah, who am I kidding? This is the most simple, tasty vegan side you can make.

But before we go further, I know some of you may be turning up your nose at the pepper. It’s gotten a bad rap over the years: bitter, acidic, hurts the belly. A few health benefits to the almighty bell pepper

1. Red peppers contain almost 300 percent of your daily vitamin C intake.
2. Red peppers are a powerful antioxidant.
3. Suffer from PMS? Anxiety? Peppers may help! Red bell peppers are a great source of vitamin B6, combined this powerful duo helps alleviate many PMS symptoms.
4. Like tomatoes, red peppers are high in lycopene, which has been successfully tested in the prevention of many cancers including prostate, lung and breast.

Did you know green peppers are actually unripened red peppers? Same family, but they are simply left on the vine longer to ripen; red peppers are naturally sweet.

Ready to fall back in love with the pepper? Try this winning (okay, I don’t know if’s won anything officially, but my family, friends and I adore it) Mediterranean recipe.

Roasted red peppers

Ingredients

1. 5 – 6 large red peppers
2. 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
3. Olive oil
4. Salt to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Line a shallow pan with wax paper and lightly spray.
2. Wash red peppers place in the shallow pan, not touching
3. Bake until soft and roasted, approximately 40 minutes (turning when needed)
4. Place the hot red papers in a plastic bag and tie firmly until cool.
5. While it is cooling, peel and mince the garlic.
6. When cooled, peel the skin from the pepper, retaining as much of the now-roasted pepper juice as possible. Tear the peppers into long strips and place in a large bowl.
7. Add minced garlic, salt and olive oil to the peppers. Cover and chill for an hour before serving.

Allowing the peppers to cool inside of a plastic bag steams the peppers slightly. This will makes it much easier to peel! Special thanks to my sister-in-law who turned me on to this new trick.

This is a great vegan side. If you are not vegan, feel free to crumble some feta or goat cheese on top for a twist.

Do you have other great pepper recipes to share? I would love to hear from you! Drop me a line below and I will add to the discussion.

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