Tina's Tipsy Today - Roasted Peppers

Yes, I am feeling tipsy again, but this time it is roasted peppers. All colors and varieties can be roasted. I'm going to concentrate on red, yellow and orange for this post to simplify. If you haven't roasted peppers, it is so easy and even people who don't like peppers end up liking the roasted option.

Also, these puppies are full of vitamin C ... something we all need more of in these winter months.

Quick how to:
Either on outdoor grill, under the oven broiler, or gas cook-top on the stove ... blacken the skin to blistered and almost burnt looking ... don't worry it will still taste good. Wrap peppers in a damp, cold towell until cooled. Skins will peel right off. Discard skins, stem, seeds and overly stringy inner veins (these just have a not so good bitter taste). Now you're left with a product you can do all sorts of things with. I put them in a pretty glass jar in my fridge w/ a little EVOO and they keep for up to a week. Here are just a few of my favorite things (remember this is only red, yellow, and orange varieties).

* Puree and add to any Italian red sauce for a unique depth of flavor.
* Use as an unexpected layer on a sandwich or wrap in place of a tomato.
* Buy the adorable baby ones, keep them whole, but discard the stems (they have very few seeds) fill w/herbed goat cheese or cream cheese and you have the incredible disappearing appetizer!
* My secret sauce: puree 3 roasted reds w/fresh basil, balsamic and EVOO (eyeball  measurements to your taste) cook on stove top for about 5-10 mins to let the flavors meld. Serve warm over grilled pork tenderloin.
* Chop and add to most any soup.
* Enhance the flavors of regional cuisine from Asian, to Mexican and Italian by chopping, or making pretty colorful strips.
* Chop and add to your favorite meatloaf or meatballs
* Add to a basic hummus recipe like this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/hummus-dip-recipe/index.html
* Finely chop or puree and add to a stick of softened butter w/your other favorite ingredients to make a compote (very trendy right now) these compotes freeze nicely and can be used in many different ways.

Really the ideas are endless and I like keeping them on hand for lots of low-cal/fat uses. If you don't want to go through the process of roasting your own, you CAN buy them in a jar at all grocery stores (look in the olive/pickle section) but you'll sacrifice nutrition b/c they may be packed in oil and contain more sodium than you care for. Feel free to add your ideas and comments!

FUN FOOD FACT!!! Peppers are NOT vegetables! They are technically a fruit. Anything with a seed is considered a fruit! Chew on that for a while!

Until the next time I am feeling tipsy! Your Cucina Regina!