All I wanted to do was roast a pepper, I swear!
This was certainly a surprise when I was leaving my building the other day. I was in the elevator, and was almost trapped as the sirens started sounding. I made it out just in time to find this…
So no, this was not a pepper roasting gone bad. This was in fact someone trying to BBQ in an old metal planter, just around the corner from our garden…GRRR!! If our garden would’ve gone up in flames… Very. Upset. Thank goodness 10 firetrucks showed up to stop the small fire that never escaped the planter.
Clearly these men are very busy. We stood outside chatting while the other 10 firemen went inside to check it out. Really loving the pro activeness of our fire department.
Live to garden another day!
And now on to my pepper story. It’s a love story.
They just don’t stop growing! Well so it seems. Which I am not complaining by any means, because, as previously stated, I love them 
Here is what we have been growing:
Oh and we do of course have bell peppers. They have not been growing as quickly.. or perhaps I have been using them too quickly, that I do not have a photo somehow..
I know there a thousand things to do with peppers, but I have decided to resort to an old standby that is quick and versatile: roasting. I have definitely been spending a day a week going through the whole process of roasting, peeling, seeding and slicing. The great part is that I can just keep freshly roasted peppers in my fridge for a week to be used in a quick lunch wrap, breakfast omelet, or in this case, a quinoa salad. I have made the mistake of leaving a few seeds in the anaheim peppers. After they turn red they become somewhat hot!
The anaheim peppers were definitely our gold winner this year. At the beginning of September they were popping up so quickly it was hard to keep up.
The poblano peppers never grew as large as they seem to when bought from the store. I kept wanting to make chile rellenos, but after they were roasted they were just too small to stuff.
Here is my version of roasting peppers:
Preheat oven to 425
Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper
Roast for 1 hour, or until skins are well blistered, turning once half way through
Place in sealed container to let cool for 15 minutes
Cut off tops to pull out seeds and core, and peel off the skins
They kept in my fridge for a week I’d say
Overall, I was very happy with the peppers that we chose to plant and with their success rate. They were very easy to grow, and very easy to put to good use!
Now that I have my peppers prepared, time for the main course:
Red Quinoa with Scallions, Zucchini, Roasted Peppers, Walnuts & Queso Blanco, With Romesco Sauce
After cooking the quinoa, I added the scallions and sautéed zucchini and walnuts to the mix, along with some cilantro and the queso blanco. Simply delicious.
Here is the recipe for Roasted Pepper Quinoa with Zucchini, Walnuts & Queso Blanco:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Red Quinoa
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 large Scallion, sliced
1 medium Zucchini, quartered
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1/2 cup queso blanco, diced
Salt & Pepper
Roasted Peppers, sliced (Above)
Directions:
1. Rinse and drain quinoa. Combine quinoa and 1 cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 18 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Uncover and let cool. Fluff with a fork, as all water should be evaporated.
2. In cast iron skillet heat olive oil. Add chopped zucchini and sautee until browned and slightly tender. Add walnuts to toast, 2 minutes more.
3. Add zucchini and walnuts, chopped scallions and cilantro, diced queso blanco and salt and pepper to taste to the quinoa in the saucepan. The quinoa will still be warm to melt the cheese slightly.
4. Add sliced roasted peppers to the salad.
Now for the Romesco Sauce! It makes all the difference!
This recipe is adapted from Food and Wine.
Ingredients:
2 large red bell peppers, halved, cored and seeded
2 medium tomatoes, halved
1 small onion, thickly sliced
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
Sea salt to taste
1. Begin by roasting the red bell peppers, yellow onion, and tomatoes in the oven. I brushed them with olive oil, and seasoned with salt & pepper as always. Roast for an hour at 425 until skins are blistered.
2. In a food processor combine roasted vegetables with almonds, crushed red pepper and puree. Season with salt. Done!
Quinoa Salad topped with Romesco Sauce!
This dish has pepper frenzy written all over it!
You can of course grill your peppers which would add that fantastic char flavor, but due to my limitations with grilling, roasting was a great way to go. And nothing (at least of my doing) caught on fire!
