Red Alert

This is the moment I get giddy foolish about all those red bell peppers piled up at farmers' markets and selling for pittance a pound. This is mostly because imported ones in the supermarkets all year long are ridiculously expensive and overgrown. They look much too picture perfect. It's also because red peppers are a terrifically tasty source of Vitamin C and with less and less sunlight, we need more and more vitamins from our food. I'm foolish for red peppers because they can so quickly be turned into so many seemingly gourmet dishes that are embarrassingly easy to make.

My favorite, because you can make a big batch and freeze it to enjoy all winter, is the red pepper coulis (that's sauce) in How to Fix a Leek.... Essentially red peppers sauteed in olive oil with spices until they're soft and smushy, at which point they get doused with vinegar, fresh herbs and salt, heated and pureed. I use this instead of ketchup because it takes steak and burgers off the charts. I use this instead of tomato sauce on pasta. I use it for omelets, on top of polenta and black bean chili. I slather it on baked potatoes and imagine it would perk tofu to the max.

Even easier and just perfect for right now are roasted peppers, indulging in lots of them while they're cheap. All you have to do is roast or grill the peppers until they soften. If you don't have a grill, you can put them on a gas burner set on low and turn them with tongs to get them lightly charred. You can put them in the oven or toaster oven at 450º if you don't have too many and not too big one for about 15 minutes. You can do a combination of gas stove grilling and oven roasting. It all works.

You pop the hot peppers into a brown paper bag, roll down the top to close and let them steam for 20 or so minutes. This step makes peeling their thin skin a cinch; the roasting and bagging will blister it so you can grab hold and pull it off.

Now all you have to do is cut the peppers into the size serving portion you want: half. quarter, strips--removing the stem and seeds (rinse) and arrange them on a serving plate. Lightly dress them with a splash of balsamic vinegar and a double splash of really fruity olive oil. Season with a pinch of dried oregano,  freshly ground black pepper and your best sea salt.

That's the basics. From there you can improvise away. I made two batches this week for two different dinner parties and threw capers on both. I minced a raw shallot and sprinkled it over one batch; I chopped a small amount of cilantro and strew it over the other. I used a little bit of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley to color the peppers with those shallots.

Finally, I rained down tiny bits of cheese on the platter: one time soft goat cheese, one time shredded Parmesan because that's what I had. It didn't seem to matter. Both times the plates were emptied lickety split.  I had been planning to put some of those peppers on an olive roll with fresh goat cheese for next day's lunch. They'd also have been sensational on that roll with salami and fontina cheese.

You can toss plain roasted peppers with cauliflower and pitted black olives for a great vegetable dish right now. You can serve strips of them with grilled sausages or chop them into lentil soup you can freeze for later.

There's just so much you can do in a snap, you should grab red bell peppers before it's too late and you have to wait another whole year.