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This salad of red, yellow and green bell peppers makes good use of more fresh garden veggies, from Trevy Thomas.

Twelve Months of Monastery Salads. Photo: Harvard Common PressIt never occurred to me to write a salad recipe, much like Heather says in her Farmer’s Market Peach and Tomato Salad recipe, but that changed when I received Twelve Months of Monastery Salads for review.  This cookbook is nothing but salad recipes, all created by monks who have lots of time to garden and cook.  Do they drink wine too?  Anyway, the book was surprisingly inspirational, and I found some combinations that wouldn’t have occurred to me otherwise.  The kind folks at Harvard Common Press are generous enough to let me post an excerpt now and then, and I thought this pepper salad recipe was timely.

Marinated Roasted Pepper Salad Recipe
Serves 4

Salad:

• 2 red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• 2 yellow bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• 2 green bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 medium-size red onion, thinly sliced
• 20 pitted black olives

Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Thinly sliced fresh basil leaves for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees or preheat the broiler.  To make the salad, put the pepper halves, cut side down, on a broiler pan and roast or broil until blackened, about 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and place them in a brown paper bag.  Close the bag, shake a bit, and let cool.
2. Carefully remove the peppers from the bag, peel off their skins, then wash under cold running water to remove any blackened bits.  Pat dry with paper towels and place in a deep bowl.  Add the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, onion, and olives, cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to marinate.
3. Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a measuring cup or small bowl until thickened.
4. On each of 4 salad plates, carefully arrange 1 red pepper half, 1 green pepper half, and 1 yellow pepper half, leaving the center of the plate open.  Place 5 olives in the center of each plate and distribute the onion over the peppers.  Pour the vinaigrette evenly over the peppers, garnish with the basil, and serve immediately.

Source:  Twelve Months of Monastery Salads (click for full review)