My family and I cook and eat outside during the summer months and I have discovered I can do just about anything on my gas grill which also has a handy side burner or on my charcoal grill – I even have a fire pit for open fire desserts like s’mores. Breakfast, lunch and dinner; It can all be done outside, eliminating the cooking smells inside the house and making wash-up time 100% easier.

Grilled seasonal vegetables are a must and can be incorporated into many wonderful dishes or just eaten right off the grill. I’ve played around with many techniques for roasting the perfect bell pepper and I believe I’ve come up with a pretty neat way of doing them. (I’m not saying I invented this method, but I like to think it’s the easiest and in my opinion the best way to do them). Once you’ve got the hand of cooking the peppers until the skin peels off easily, without charing them to smithereens you should definitely try experimenting with different herbal combinations. fresh basil, a dash of balsamic vinegar … the sky’s the limit!

Roasted Bell Peppers Ingredients:

4-5  bell Peppers, red and or yellow
1   cup Olive oil
salt and pepper
1   teaspoon smoked paprika
1   tablespoon dried oregano
1-3 cloves garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Oil the peppers with your hands.
Place the peppers, with their stems intact, on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan, or better yet on the barbecue over medium high heat, and roast 20-30 minutes, or until the skins darken and blister.
Remove the peppers from the oven, and place them in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
Set the peppers aside to cool.

When peppers are cool enough to handle; peel, remove seeds and stems.�
Cut peppers into strips and place in a small bowl.  Toss peeled peppers with olive oil, chopped garlic, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper.

Recipe idea:
Try grilling or toasting some Italian crusty bread, brush with some extra virgin olive oil. Spread with goat cheese, spoon on the peppers and top with toasted pine nuts for a quick snack or appetizer.

Wine Ideas for this:
A steel tank fermented (or as little as oak as possible) Chardonnay
Poet’s Leap Riesling
Pacific Rim Dry Riesling
A dry Rose’

- Chef Traci -