Sweet peppers and tomatoes are in season now, and your garden patch of basil and mint should be resplendent. Why not place them all on one plate as a nice cool fresh summer salad?
Pepper and Tomato Salad
Yield: 4 servings
See Abbreviations, if needed
· 2 large ripe tomatoes (heirloom varieties are nice here)
· 1 large garlic clove, pureed
· 6 fresh basil leaves cut in thirds lengthwise
· 5 fresh mint leaves cut in halves lengthwise
· 3T EVOO(your very best)
· 4 large bell peppers, any color or mix
· S/P to taste
· 2T capers, drained
1. Char the peppers directly over gas burners or under the broiler. Place each in an aluminum wrapper and seal to cool
2. Cut the tomatoes into pieces, deseed, and pass them through a food mill, fitted with the medium or large hole disk, and into a small glass mixing bowl
3. Puree the garlic, cut the basil and mints leaves and place all in the bowl
4. Add the EVOO and mix well
5. Add S/P to taste, cover the bowl and let rest in the fridge for an hour
6. Remove each pepper from its aluminum foil and scrape off the charred skin
| TIP: Over the sink, scrape off the charred skin of a roasted bell pepper with a paring knife (better still, a serrated paring knife). Use running water to clean the knife. Do not run water over the pepper. It gets messy. |
7. Slice open the roasted peppers, deseed and devein
8. Slice the peppers into long strips about 3/8-inch wide
9. Arrange the peppers on a serving plate and drizzle the tomato/EVOO mixture over them
10. Drain the capers and distribute them over the top of the salad
11. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for an hour.
12. Remove the salad from the fridge about 30 minutes before
serving
