This is a nice make ahead dish that looks very festive in a buffet. It is handy because it can be served cold or at room temperature. I had a bit left over, so I used it as a relish on sandwiches, which was quite good. Other than roasting the peppers, it isn’t very fussy to make, an advantage as the summer gets hotter. I expect you could even roast the peppers on the grill to avoid heating up the kitchen. It’s been raining too much here to grill anything though. I also wouldn’t use pre-roasted jarred peppers, as I think they would be too slimy. The original recipe was from Cooking Light.
Moroccan Tri-Color Pepper Salad
3 yellow bell peppers
3 red bell peppers
2 orange bell peppers
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1½ Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher (or sea) salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional=I didn’t sprinkle mine with cilantro))
Preheat broiler (or grill). Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. (If you are using a grill, flatten and place skin side down on an oiled grill). Broil for 20 minutes or until blackened. Place in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 20 minutes. Peel and then cut the roasted peppers into 1/4-inch-wide strips.
Combine juice and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add peppers to bowl; toss gently to combine. Cover and chill overnight. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving. This makes 8 servings at about 3 grams of fat/serving, although when I served it as part of a larger buffet with lots of other salad-like things it served more people.
Variation: You can use only 2 colors of pepper if convenient, although I’m not sure that green peppers would do well in this salad.
