Fire-roasted peppers

Timaree Hagenburger
The Nutrition Professor
Cosumnes River College, Sacramento

It's fun to roast your own peppers, says dietitian Timaree Hagenburger, especially when your garden or farmers market has a bumper crop. "Once roasted, they can be enjoyed in all sorts of dishes, including sandwiches, grain salads, pasta dishes, dips, sauces and salsa!"

Ingredients

Bell peppers, rinsed and whole (do not cut) (see tip)

Directions

Place rinsed peppers on a baking sheet in the oven under the broiler (or hold, with tongs, above a flame on a gas stovetop). Cook until skin is blackened, rotating to ensure as much of the surface as possible gets blackened. Immediately place the pepper in a glass bowl and cover with a lid or plate or wrap to steam. After a few minutes, you will be able to peel off and discard the burnt skin, along with the stem and seeds. You can use the roasted pepper right away or, if tightly wrapped, freeze for later.

Nutrition Professor's Shop Smart/Prep Smart Tip:

Any variety of pepper will work, even the little hot peppers. The red, orange and yellow varieties will be the sweetest, as many of the green bell peppers are underripe.