This roasted Tunisian salad was a big hit last night. I like roasted peppers, so I was interested when I spotted a recipe in Marianne Magnier-Moreno’s book “My Cooking Class: Middle Eastern Basics” which had roasted peppers and roasted tomatoes. Since it is still early spring, we do not have good quality big tomatoes available, so I made it with a mixture of small tomatoes.

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

10 oz. tomatoes

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tsp. capers

Juice of ½ lemon

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. red wine vinegar

½ can anchovies, chopped (not in the original, but I had available and they were good)

2 sprigs cilantro, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the broiler.

Put a rack on a baking sheet and add the tomatoes and peppers. Broil them. After about 5 minutes, the tomatoes will be cooked and will have their skins burst. Remove the tomatoes to a bowl. Keep roasting the peppers for another 15 minutes or so, turning them periodically so that each of their surfaces are blackened. Remove the peppers, and put them in a plastic bag on a plate and cover them with a towel, so that they will steam their skins off. Allow them to cool.

Peel and seed the peppers, drain away the liquid, and cut into strips. Put the pepper strips in a bowl. Peel the tomatoes, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Allow the liquid to drain away. Put the tomatoes in the bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, mix, and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Note – Although I did this in the house using the broiler, it would probably be even better to grill the peppers and tomatoes.