Sausage & Peppers
Sauté red onion slices and green and yellow bell pepper strips until softened and slightly browned.
Meanwhile, grill sausages until well marked and cooked through. Slice sausages in half lengthwise.
Place sausage halves on split rolls and top with onion and peppers. Serve with whole-grain mustard.
Romesco
In a food processor, pulse roasted
red bell peppers with minced garlic, toasted almonds, sherry vinegar, seeded tomatoes, smoked paprika and salt until combined.
With the motor running, drizzle in olive oil until the mixture forms a chunky puree.
Serve alongside grilled steak and green onions.
Tricolor Pepper Salad
Toss strips of red, yellow and orange bell peppers with sherry vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
Mound the peppers on salad plates and sprinkle with chopped fresh basil, sliced Kalamata olives and crumbled feta.
Serve as a starter or an accompaniment to grilled meat
or fish.
Preserved Peppers
Toss red bell peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper. Broil or grill, turning occasionally, until charred all over. Let cool, then peel off charred skin. Cut each pepper into 4 pieces and remove seeds.
Transfer to a glass jar and fill jar with chopped herbs, red pepper flakes and olive oil to cover. Use within 1 week.
Stuffed Peppers
Halve green bell peppers lengthwise and remove seeds. Toss with olive oil and salt and arrange cut side up in a baking dish.
Combine cooked rice and black beans with sautéed onion and garlic, ground cumin, chili powder, chopped cilantro, sliced green onions and salt. Mound mixture in pepper halves. Cover and bake at 350°F until tender, about 1 hour. Remove foil, top with cheese and bake 15 minutes more.
Roasted Pepper Crostini
Toss orange bell peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper. Broil or grill, turning occasionally, until charred all over. Let cool, then peel off charred skin. Remove seeds and cut into strips.
Spread goat cheese on crostini and top with pepper strips. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with flake salt.
Availability
Most bell peppers are available all year, but they are at their sweetest—and most abundant—during summer.
Selecting
Buy firm, smooth, bright-colored peppers. Bell peppers may be green, red, yellow, orange, brown or purple. Green peppers are usually sharper flavored, more plentiful and less expensive than peppers of other colors. They are immature and do not ripen once picked. Red bell peppers are simply a more mature (and sweeter) stage of green bell peppers. The other colors are separate varieties of peppers.
Preparing
Cut the pepper in half at the equator or lengthwise. Using your hands or a knife, remove the stem. Then trim away the seeds and white membranes, and cut the pepper to the desired size and shape.
Storing
Refrigerate the peppers as soon as you get them home, storing them loosely in a perforated plastic bag. Green peppers keep for at least 1 week; use red, yellow orange and purple peppers within 5 or 6 days.