Easy versatility
It’s easy to get into a rut when you cook for one or two people. With small size proteins, there aren’t always a lot of different approaches to keep food interesting and if time is a factor, the choices dwindle even further. I mean seriously, if you start with a 6 oz piece of cod or a 5 oz steak or a boneless chicken breast, your palette is a little limited from the get-go.
But that doesn’t mean that dinner has to be boring or repetitive. Big flavors and variety can come from sauces and condiments. I discussed a couple of those in an earlier post and I’ll be writing about them again shortly. Another way is to have some extras on hand that can serve as sides or can contribute to other sides, to sauces, elements of the main dish, or even snacks. I made some earlier this week and wanted to share the results. For today’s post, I’m indebted to Sally Schneider whose A New Way to Cook was the inspiration for this entire approach and Tom Colicchio, whose Think Like a Chef also has an extensive treatment of slow roasted tomatoes.
This story starts with an impulse buy at the grocery store. Yellow and orange bell peppers were on sale for $1.99 lb and where I shop, that’s a great price for any bell pepper that isn’t green. I bought two of each color to roast. The colors of bell peppers don’t usually matter, although green ones do have a stronger taste that can be a little bitter at times. Usually though, when roasted or sautéed well, peppers have a nice, sweet taste that absorbs the flavor of seasonings really well and that’s what I was going for here.
First step is to cut the peppers into strips and there are as many techniques for this as there are cooks. When I’m making strips that are reasonably wide (1/2″ or more) I stand the pepper upright on my cutting board and then run my knife from top to bottom, often following the contours of the pepper itself. After having gone all around the pepper, it “blooms” just like a flower and the core and seeds can be easily extracted. In my case, the core becomes a special treat for one of my parrots who loves the seeds. A quick trim with a paring knife to get rid of the white ribs and I’m good to go.
The strips are arranged skin side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I always use parchment paper to save clean up time and to prevent any sticking). Now drizzle some olive oil (maybe mix up the peppers a bit with your hands to make sure the oil covers everything) and add a little salt and pepper. Next comes the seasoning and this is where you can get creative. Anything will work. Like garlic? Add some slices of garlic. Maybe Italian seasoning. Maybe some tarragon. This weekend I used smoked Spanish paprika and it worked like a charm.
Pop the peppers into a pre-heated 475° oven for 30 minutes and when you’re done, you have the basis for dozens of dishes. Add a little sherry vinegar and you have a delicious pepper salad. Layer the peppers under a steak or piece of grilled pork. Add some olives and cheese (gorgonzola, goat cheese, quest fresco, etc) and layer on top of a tortilla and you have a pepper “pizza.” Remove the skin and combine with olive oil and vinegar to make a vinaigrette. Mix with zucchini or eggplant, or almost any other veggie. For the record, I made a pizza, snacked on a few, and and mixed them with the roast tomatoes and leftover broccoli as a side to chicken piccata.
The tomatoes are their own story. I use roasted tomatoes a lot and they are a very useful tool to have on hand in the fridge to keep things lively. The approach is beyond simple. I buy 10-15 plum tomatoes and slice them in half lengthwise. Place them skin side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and put in an oven pre-heated to 300° for 3 hours. If you’re doing this the first time, you may want to check at 2 hours just to see how your oven is working and adjust the time accordingly. When the tomatoes are done, the skin has browned in places and there may be a little browning on the cut side. The tomatoes are soft but they hold their shape.
The roasting process intensifies the tomato flavor and, like the peppers, these are delicious on their own as snacks or appetizers. They can also be used on salads, added to any number of vinaigrettes or sauces for meat, fish, or pasta, combined with other vegetables as a side dish, and on and on. While my peppers were cooking the other day, I prepped some tomatoes for roasting and as the peppers came out of the oven, the tomatoes went in. This particular batch started off in a salad and as part of the pepper/tomato/broccoli side I wrote about above. Tonight a couple more tomatoes will become part of a tomato/shallot vinaigrette and I’ll still have a dozen or so tomato halves to use spontaneous during the week.
Shallots and onions can also be roasted for use this way and I’ve also used pickling (radishes, daikon, brussels sprouts, okra, and shallots in addition to the obvious cucumbers) to keep the fridge stocked with special ingredients that can add a little spark to dinner.
Recipe – Roasted peppers
Ingredients
4 bell peppers (a good mix of colors is best) stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2″ strips.
olive oil
salt & pepper
seasoning (paprika, garlic, seasoning blends like Italian herb seasoning, oregano, etc.)
Directions
Preheat oven to 475°.
Arrange pepper strips skin side down on a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle liberally with the seasoning of your choice.
Roast for 30 minutes. Serve immediately or let cool. Can be refrigerated for several days.
Recipe – Slow roasted tomatoes
Ingredients
10-15 plum (Roma) tomatoes, halved lengthwise.
olive oil
salt & pepper
sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 300°
Arrange tomatoes skin side down on a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar.
Roast for 3 hours until skin is browned and tomatoes are soft but hold their shape. Let cool.