There’s more than one good reason to eat more Bell Peppers. They’re a great source of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The red ones, in particular, are hailed as a ‘superfood’. Here’s a quick, easy way to elevate your Bells!
Roasted Peppers are not a new veggie innovation. But the ease with which the dish goes together, and the flavour and colour blast it will give your supper plates is nothing short of spectacular!
What you do
Cut the tops and bottoms off of 3 or 4 bell peppers. Set them aside for dicing into other dishes. Remove the core and seeds from the main part of the pep-pers, then cut into rounds about 1/2 in / 1.5 cm thick. If the peppers are large, cut the rounds into quarters. If smaller, just cut the rounds in half.
Next, sliver one or two medium-sized sweet or red onions in thickness to match the peppers.
Arrange the peppers and onions in a single layer on a foil-lined sheet pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Dust with a few pinches of Sweet Paprika, and sprinkle classic Italian Seasoning over all.
Bake on the middle rack in a preheated 400 F oven until he onions are transparent and the peppers begin to turn brown around the edges. They should both be fork-tender.
Tips and hacks…
The recipe calls only for red, yellow and orange peppers. Add a nice fat green one, too. That gesture alone will add miles of visual appeal to the dish, and makes it super-complementary for year-end holiday feast tables!
I always have a bowl of grated Parm or Romano cheese on the side so diners can add it as a garnish, as they see fit.
DO NOT peel the peppers, either before or after roasting. The skins give them shape and help keep them from going mushy if you (somehow) overcook them. Also, the skins seal in some of the most concentrated nutrients in the vegetable, so thy do0n’t run off with liberated juices.
You can use pre-blended Italian Seasoning from the store. But I prefer to make my own. it just takes a couple of minutes and you get to adjust the proportions of the constituent herbs and spices to suit your preferences.
Be sure to taste for salt and pepper last thing before before serving…
My take
Here’s a low-effort, quick, ultra-nutritious veggie side that can complement almost any traditional protein-carb-veggie plate. And it’s unlike any other side you might be expected to serve with any conventional ‘star’ protein…
~ Maggie J.