Recipe ideas from Michelle Darmody
Peppers are actually a fruit not a vegetable, as they contain seeds.
Most people including myself, treat them as a vegetable.
They are native to Mexico and the Central American region from where they were spread to the rest of the world by Spanish and Portuguese explorers.
I have a confession to make.
I am not totally enamored by the taste of peppers.
I do see their attractiveness to others but I find them a little overpowering in most dishes.
I do find if I roasted them and remove the skin that they are far easier to digest and also the flavour is mellower.
I have described how I roast the peppers and remove the skins opposite; you can store these roasted peppers in oil and use them the following week in dishes.
I find myself drawn mostly to red peppers, because of their bright colour but also because of the knowledge that they contain almost twice the vitamin C of their, less ripe, green counterparts.
You can buy roasted red pepper preserved in jars.
They are used a lot in Spanish cooking and are handy to have in the cupboard if you do not have time to roast the peppers yourself.
I made a fun and tasty breakfast the other day by roasting peppers which were cut in half.
Once they began to soften I spooned some leftover ratatouille style vegetables, and pressed these down and made a hollow in the centre.
Then I cracked an egg into the hollow and placed the peppers back in the oven until the vegetables were heated and the egg was cooked.
Halloumi, or squeaky cheese as I often call it, can be very salty, so squeezing some lime juice over it before cooking adds a nice zesty flavour and outweighs the salt.
Halloumi generally comes in 250g blocks and is easy to slice as itâs quite dense.
2 blocks of halloumi, sliced into 1/2 cm thick slices
1 1/ 2 tbs of olive oil and more for drizzling
2 tbsp of lime juice and the zest of 1 lime
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp of honey
œ tsp ground cumin
A small bunch of coriander, very finely chopped
2 roasted red peppers, sliced
Green leaves for four
4 pitta breads, toasted
1 tbs of natural yogurt
Drizzle the slices of halloumi with some oil and half of the lime juice. Place on a baking tray under and a hot grill until it is turning lightly golden. Turn the slices over and cook until golden on that side.
Whisk one and a half tablespoons of olive oil with the rest of the lime juice, the zest, garlic, honey, cumin and half of the chopped coriander. Taste and season.
Toss the leaves in half of the dressing and pour the remaining over the halloumi. Stir the remaining coriander and some seasoning through the yogurt.
Serve the halloumi with the roasted peppers, yogurt dip and the salad. Serve the toasted pitta breads on the side. I often drizzle pitta style breads with some oil, honey and seasoning before grilling.
This pasta dish can be made with some sausages or rashers added.
Pasta for four
Adash of olive oil
2 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 roasted red peppers, sliced
2 tbs of balsamic vinegar
A bunch of oregano, sliced
2 tbs of crĂšme fraiche
1 tbs of tomato passata or half that of tomato puree
100g of Parmesan, grated
Put the pasta on to boil in lightly salted water and drain when al dente.
Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion until they are turning translucent. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute.
Stir in the sliced pepper until it is heated then add the oregano, vinegar, creme fraiche and tomato. Taste and season.
Stir in the pasta coating it completely. Serve with the cheese sprinkled on top.
3 large peppers, you can use either red, yellow or green or a mixture
1 1/2 tbs of olive oil
Place the whole peppers in an oven-proof dish and roast at 160 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until the skins are wrinkled and the peppers charred.
Remove from oven and cover the dish with tinfoil making sure to pinch in the sides so that all the steam from the peppers stays enclosed.
Discard the stems, peels, and seeds and place the peppers in a bowl along with any juices that have collected.
Pour the oil over the peppers. Place into an airtight tub and refrigerate for up to ten days.
1 red onion, sliced
olive oil
1 tin of chickpeas, drained and liquid kept aside
3 roasted peppers, preferably red
juice and zest of a small lemon
1 red chilli, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of toasted cumin seeds
1 clove of garlic, crushed
Heat a little oil and sauté the onion slices over a low heat with a lid on until they soften. Taste, season and set aside.
This step is optional but it gives you a much finer and smoother hummus.
Remove the thin shells from the chickpeas by rubbing a few at a time in the palm of your hands.
Discard the shells.
Add the red peppers, the lemon zest and half of the juice, the spices and garlic to a food processor.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil and some seasoning and blitz. Add the chickpeas and half of the fried onion.
Blitz again.
Taste and add some more lemon juice if you would like it a little more bitter.
You can also add some of the water from the chickpea tin to smooth it out.
Serve with the rest of the red onion spooned on top and some toasted cumin seeds.
This will last a few days covered in the fridge and is handy for sandwiches, or as a dip.
You can use any soft fruits in this cake, blueberries work nicely as well.
85g of softened butter
80g of sugar
3 eggs
200g of ground almonds
25g of wholemeal flour
1 tsp of baking powder
50g of flaked almonds
a handful of raspberries
4 tbs of honey
Heat your oven to 180 degrees.
Grease and line an eight inch round tin. Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, and cream them together until light and fluffy.
Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Fold in the ground almonds.
Sift in the flour and baking powder and gently fold these in. Scrape half of the mixture into the prepared tin scatter with the raspberries and then smooth on the rest of the mixture; scatter the flaked almonds over the top.
Bake for 45 minutes in a pre heated oven.
Test with a skewer to see if the cake is cooked.
Remove from the oven and, while itâs still hot, evenly drizzle with honey.
Place tin on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or cold.
