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.
- Easy Shortbread Recipe
- Cranberry Gin
- Beetroot Soup with Coconut
- Leek and Potato Soup with Fresh Chives
- Blackberry Gin
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.
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.
- Aubergine Salad with Soy and Honey – A great, easy oriental-style salad with a fantastic hit of umami flavour which can be made in 15 minutes.
- Thai Cucumber Salad – Fresh, crunchy and tasty with brilliant Thai flavours which takes 5 minutes.
- Raw Beetroot and Carrot Salad – This is another quick and easy raw salad which has a zesty citrus dressing.
- Red Cabbage Coleslaw – An easy raw salad which includes red cabbage, carrot and apple.
- Broad Bean Salad with Feta – Fresh green broad beans and salty feta make this a brilliant, flavourful salad.
- Spiced Carrot Salad with Honey and Lemon – This salad takes a bit longer to make as the carrots are roasted. It is worth it as the lemon, honey and North African spices work magic on this versatile vegetable.
- Roasted Beetroot Salad with Yogurt and Tahini – Again, this salad takes a bit longer to make but it is worth it for the intense flavour of the roasted beetroot.
Roasted Pepper Salad recipe
PrintRoasted Pepper Salad
- 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
- 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
Instructions
- Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the stalks and seeds.
- Place the pepper halves skin-side up on a grill pan covered in foil.
- Place the pan under a hot grill for around 10 minutes until the peppers are black and charred.
- 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.
- When the peppers are cool enough to handle you should be able to peel off the charred skins.
- Roughly chop the skinned peppers and place in a bowl.
- Add the crushed garlic clove, olive oil and lemon juice to the peppers. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Chop the fresh parsley and sprinkle over the peppers.
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.