Roasted Pepper Salad

Roasted Pepper Salad – an easy five-ingredient recipe

This Roasted Pepper Salad is a very simple vegan recipe which showcases the rich, sweet taste of roasted peppers.   I think that sometimes less is more and that it is good to pick on one star ingredient and add a few others that really bring out its flavour. In this case, garlic, a citrus dressing and parsley transform the roasted peppers into a salad within minutes.

How I learned to love peppers

Making this recipe changed me from a pepper-hater to a pepper-lover in one bit. My previous experience of peppers had not been positive. When I was growing up, adding raw peppers to a green salad was a popular way of adding a bit of colour. It looked pretty but the taste of raw pepper did nothing for me. In fact it still doesn’t. My other early pepper-related experiences involved the stuffed peppers which were occasionally served for school lunches. And the less said about them, the better.

However, inspired by a delicious pepper pasta sauce that a friend cooked for me when I was a student, I realised that the key to pepper-eating bliss was to roast them! Roasting, either on a griddle, under a grill, in the oven or on a barbecue has a transformative effect on peppers. They become soft and savoury with a delicious smoky sweetness. All that is needed to transform them into a salad is a citrus dressing, a bit of garlic, parsley and some seasoning.

If you like this recipe, you might also like my recipe for Feta Quiche With Roasted Peppers.

Roasted Pepper Salad

So why is this such a great salad?

Roasted Pepper Salad is one of my favourite salads – and not just for the taste! First off, it is very simple – only five ingredients including seasoning – and it is fool-proof to make (no fancy culinary skills required). Secondly, it is healthy. Roasting retains the flavour and nutritional value of the peppers and the calorie count is low (if you care about that sort of thing…). Finally, it is an extremely easy-going and versatile salad. You can make it a day or so in advance. It keeps in the fridge for several days. It can be served warm or at room temperature or cold. You can pimp it up with other ingredients – pine nuts for a bit of crunch, capers, olives, anchovies or some salty cheese such as feta are all good additions. Or you can just leave it simple. It is a fantastic side dish. I will also have it for lunch with just some crusty bread or maybe a green salad. It is such a great roasted pepper recipe!

Other easy salads

I love salads and eat them all the year around – not just in summer. If you like this Broad Bean Salad recipe, you might also like some of my other salad recipes.

Roasted Pepper Salad recipe

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Roasted Pepper Salad

Roasted Pepper Salad

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: for 6 people 1x
  • Category: Salad
  • Cuisine: English

Description

This is a very simple vegan salad which showcases the rich, sweet taste of roasted peppers.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 red,orange or yellow peppers
  • 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • Juice from half a lemon
  • Salt and pepper
  • Small bunch of fresh parsley

Peppers


Instructions

  1. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise.  Remove the stalks and seeds.
  2. Place the pepper halves skin-side up on a grill pan covered in foil.
  3. Place the pan under a hot grill for around 10 minutes until the peppers are black and charred.
  4. Wrap the silver foil that you used to line the pan around the peppers and leave to cool.  The foil will form an envelope around the hot peppers and the steam that they give off will help to loosen their charred skins.
  5. When the peppers are cool enough to handle you should be able to peel off the charred skins.
  6. Roughly chop the skinned peppers and place in a bowl.
  7. Add the crushed garlic clove, olive oil and lemon juice to the peppers.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  8. Chop the fresh parsley and sprinkle over the peppers.

Roasted Pepper Salad


Notes

Good things to add to this salad include pinenuts, capers, olives, anchovies, salty cheese such as feta.

You can serve this salad hot, warm, room-temperature or cold.

You can make this salad a day ahead.  It will also keep in the fridge for several days.

Keywords: peppers, salad, vegan

Beetroot and Carrot Salad

Easy Beetroot and Carrot salad

This Beetroot and Carrot salad can be made in ten minutes and only contains three main ingredients plus a zesty, citrus dressing. It is great as a side dish and also as a filling for sandwiches or pitta bread. This is one of my favourite winter salads as it is so quick and easy, has fantastic fresh crunchiness that I crave at this time of year and also it is such a brilliant, almost psychedelic, red-pink colour that it always cheers me up!

Raw vegetables – easy, healthy and tasty

This recipe involves no cooking. The finely-grated beetroot and the carrot are is raw. You may have used raw carrot in salads before but possibly not raw beetroot. However, its sweet crunchiness – similar to that of the carrot but with an added depth of beetroot flavour – is a fantastic raw salad ingredient. Keeping the vegetables raw, in addition to tasting good and having that fresh crunch that is very welcome in a winter salad, also retains all their nutrients.

The dressing of this salad is a combination of orange and lemon juice. This gives it a flavour and tartness which enhances both the beetroot and the carrot. It will be thinner than a conventional dressing as it has a high proportion of juice to olive oil. In fact, it works partly as a marinade with the acid in the juice working to enhance the flavour of the grated vegetables particularly if you make the salad at least a couple of hours before you plan to eat it.

The final ingredient in this simple salad is dried cranberries. I have discovered these quite recently and love them as an alternative to raisins or sultanas. In addition to the sweetness of other dried fruit, they have a pop of cranberry sharpness which really perks up your recipes.

Salads – not just for summer..

I am a firm believer in winter salads. On cold, grey winter days, I crave crisp, fresh vegetables and sharp, tasty dressings. These are some of my favourite winter salads – all of which are extremely easy to make.

Beetroot and Carrot Salad – 10 minute recipe

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Beetroot and Carrot Salad

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6
  • Category: Salad
  • Cuisine: English

Description

This simple raw Beetroot and Carrot salad is healthy and delicious and can be made in only 10 minutes.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 small beetroots
  • 4 carrots
  • 50 g dried cranberries
  • 50 ml olive oil
  • 1 orange
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt


Instructions

  1. Peel and coarsely grate the raw beetroots and carrots.
  2. Put in a bowl with the dried cranberries.
  3. Make the dressing by putting the olive oil in a measuring jug and adding the squeezed juice of the orange and the lemon, the honey and the salt.  Mix well to combine.  The dressing will be quite thin as the proportion of oil to juice is lower than in a normal dressing. 
  4. Pour the dressing over the beetroot, carrot and cranberries.  If possible, leave for a couple of hours before eating to allow the flavours to develop.


Notes

  • This recipe is vegetarian.  If you want to make it vegan, you can use an alternative, such as maple syrup, for the honey.

Keywords: beetroot, carrot, salad

This recipe has been shared on #CookBlogShare with Crumbs and Corkscrews  and #FiestaFriday with Fiesta Friday  and Liz at Spades, Spoons and Spatulas

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Spiced Carrots with Honey and Lemon

A brilliantly easy and versatile recipe that can be made into a side, a salad, a dip or a sandwich filling!

Spiced Carrots with Honey and Lemon. Just the description makes my mouth water. The carrots are slow-roasted in the oven to bring out their earthy sweetness. Then they are tossed with warm Middle Eastern spices – cumin, cinnamon, paprika and cumin – and tossed in a garlic, lemon and honey dressing. The result is a flavour sensation – spicy, zesty and sweet.

And even better, these Spiced Carrots can be finished to make one of three different types of dish – a side-dish, a salad or a dip – all with the same punch of flavour. If you serve the carrots warm, they make a great side-dish to accompany a meat, fish or vegetarian main course. If you allow them to cool to room temperature, they make a fantastic salad. Finally, you can blend the carrots to make a dip which can be served with crusty bread or used as a sandwich filling.

I will often make a big batch of this recipe and use it as either a side-dish or salad for our family supper. The remainder is then blended into a dip which is used for working-at-home lunches or used as a sandwich filling for school lunch boxes.

This recipe is based on the Moroccan Spiced Carrot Dip from the wonderful Riverford Organic Farm. I use a bit more honey and ground ginger rather than fresh but the zingy flavours are all theirs! The recipe section of their website provides lots of inspiration about creative ways to use their fantastic, organic vegetables.

If you are in the mood for a zesty, flavourful winter salad, we have lots more at Tastebotanical. What about Thai Cucumber Salad, Aubergine with Soy and Honey, Roasted Pepper Salad or Roasted Beetroot with Yogurt and Tahini?

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Roasted Carrot Salad with Honey and Lemon

Spiced Carrots with Honey and Lemon

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 46 as a side dish 1x
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Roasting
  • Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Description

A brilliantly easy and versatile recipe which combines slow-roasted carrots with warm Middle Eastern spices and a garlic, lemon and honey dressing.  It can be made into a side-dish, a salad, a dip or a sandwich filling!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 800 g fresh carrots
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 garlic clove (crushed)
  • 1 tablespoon runny honey
  • Juice of one lemon

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 200 C/Gas Mark 6
  2. Peel the carrots and chop into disks about 3 mm thick.    
  3. Put the carrot disks onto a baking tray.  Add the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Bake the carrot disks in the oven for around 30 minutes until they are soft and slightly brown at the edges.
  5. Remove the carrot disks from the oven and roughly mash using a fork.   
  6. In a large bowl, mix together the cumin, cinnamon, paprika, ginger, crushed garlic clove, honey and lemon juice.
  7. Add the roughly mashed carrots to the bowl and stir to combine.

Notes

This is a very versatile recipe.  It can be served warm as a side dish.  It can be served at room temperature as a salad.  Or you can put it in the blender and create a dip or a sandwich filling!

Keywords: carrots, spices, salad

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Roasted Beetroot Salad with Yogurt and Tahini

Easy and healthy Roasted Beetroot Salad with Yogurt and Tahini

This easy and healthy Roasted Beetroot Salad combines the earthy sweetness of beetroot with creamy Greek yogurt and the nuttiness of tahini. It also looks very attractive as the beetroot juices colour the yogurt a pretty pink and this with the dark red beetroot chunks. I recommend this recipe if you are trying to convert a confirmed beetroot-hater. Often those who claim to dislike this delicious and healthy vegetable have only eaten it when it is chopped into tiny chunks and doused in strong vinegar. If you are beetroot lover, have a look at our recipes for lovely sweet-sour Beetroot Tart and Beetroot Soup with Coconut.

Roasting the beetroots concentrates their flavour and, although it takes around 40 minutes, once they are cooked it takes only a few minutes to assemble the salad. If it is more convenient, you can roast the beetroots the day before you want to eat the salad. I am a big fan of roasting vegetables as I think it improves the flavour and retains the nutrients. Roasting is also a very easy way to cook as you just put them in the oven and leave them to it.

Tahini, which is a paste made from roasted sesame seeds, complements the flavour of the beetroot. It is used in hummus so, even it you have never used it in cooking, you will be familiar with its flavour. It is full of minerals and is healthy as well as very tasty!

When you are entertaining, I think offering a range of different types of salads, to which guests can help themselves, is a great option. Everyone can choose what they like (and come back for more!). This Roasted Beetroot Salad is fantastic in a mix which might include Broad Bean Salad and Roasted Pepper Salad plus a crisp green salad.

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Roasted Beetroot Salad with Tahini and Yoghurt

Roasted Beetroot Salad with Yogurt and Tahini

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 40
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 46 as a side dish 1x
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Roasting
  • Cuisine: Mediterranean

Description

This Roasted Beetroot Salad combines the sweetness of roasted beetroot with creamy Greek yogurt and nutty tahini.   Once the beetroot have been roasted, it can be assembled in minutes.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 small raw beetroot
  • 300 ml Greek yoghurt 
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
  • Salt 

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.  
  2. Wash your beetroot and loosely wrap each one in kitchen foil.  Place the wrapped beetroot on an oven tray.   Roast the beetroot in the oven for around 40 minutes until soft.   Remove the beetroot from the oven and allow to cool.  When they are cool enough to handle, remove the skins using a sharp knife.
  3. Chop the cooked beetroot into chunks of approximately 1 cm.
  4. Put the Greek yogurt, tahini and crushed garlic clove into a large bowl and mix well.  Add salt to taste.  
  5. Add the chopped beetroot chunks to the mixture in the bowl and stir to ensure that it is coated with the yogurt dressing.

 


Notes

You can use full-fat Greek yogurt or one of the varieties that is lower fat.  I generally use the 5% fat version rather than the 0% fat version.

This salad can be served either warm or at room temperature.  It can be made in advance and keeps well in the fridge for two or three days.

Keywords: beetroot, yogurt, tahini, salad

Loved this recipe? You may also like the following recipes. Or checkout the Recipe Index.

Asian Cucumber Salad

Thai cucumber salad

Asian Cucumber Salad – a five-minute recipe

This easy Asian-style Cucumber Salad is fresh and zesty. The cucumber is dressed with sweetened lime juice, soy sauce and Thai fish sauce flavoured with garlic and chilli.

This salad is exactly what I want to eat in January. Following the culinary excesses of Christmas and the New Year, I am looking for fresh and healthy, flavour-packed dishes which are quick and easy to prepare. This salad takes only five minutes to make and has a fantastic chilli-spiced, sweet and salty dressing to enhance the crunchy cucumber.

Although this Cucumber Salad is Asian-inspired, I quite often use it as an accompaniment to simple grilled fish, such as salmon steaks, but it would also go well with grilled chicken or meat. It is also great as a snack as it has that hit of taste and chilli heat which means that you feel satisfied without taking in lots of calories.

What you need to know about this recipe

  • This is one of the easiest salads that you can make. It really is just a question of peeling and chopping the cucumber, mixing the dressing and combining.
  • Make sure that you use a ceramic or glass bowl for this salad. If you use a metal bowl, it may react with the ingredients.
  • This salad is not vegetarian as the recipe includes Thai fish sauce. If you are a vegetarian, you can substitute the fish sauce with an additional tablespoon of soy sauce. In fact, that will make the recipe vegan.
  • If you don’t like chilli, you can leave it out.
  • You can eat this salad immediately. However, I think the flavour improves if it is kept for an hour or two. Don’t leave it longer than that as the salty dressing will draw the liquid out of the cucumber. That will mean that there is a lot of liquid in the salad and the flavours will be diluted.

Other easy salads

I love salads and eat them all the year around – not just in summer. If you like this recipe, you might also like some of my other salad recipes.

Asian Cucumber Salad recipe

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Thai cucumber salad

Asian Cucumber Salad

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 2 as a side dish 1x
  • Category: Salad
  • Cuisine: Thai

Description

This fresh-tasting Asian-style Cucumber Salad can be made in five minutes.   The cool crunchy cucumber is enhanced by chilli heat and the sweet-salty dressing.    

I like to eat this kind of salad in January, after the culinary excesses of Christmas and New Year, when its freshness and strong, zesty flavours are especially welcome – as is the fact that it can be thrown together in five minutes!  However, it is just as good on a hot summer day.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cucumber
  • Half a fresh red chilli, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes)
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce 
  • 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • Juice of half a lime

Instructions

  1. Peel the cucumber to remove the dark green outer skin.  Chop into the cucumber into chunks.  I find the easiest way to do this is to cut the cucumber in half lengthways and then slice each half into 1 cm chunks.
  2. In a glass or ceramic bowl combine the finely chopped red chilli (or dried chilli flakes), crushed garlic clove, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and lime  juice.   Do not use a metal bowl as this may react with the ingredients.
  3. Add the cucumber chunks to the ingredients in the bowl and mix well.

Notes

This salad can be eaten immediately.  However, I think the flavours improve if it is left in the fridge for several hours.    It also keeps well in the fridge for several days.   

You can make a vegan version of this recipe by replacing the fish sauce with extra soy sauce.

Keywords: cucumber, thai, salad