IN THE KITCHEN: Salad of Mixed Greens and Roasted Red Peppers

Roasting peppers on the stovetop

Lunch in the winter is often a hearty soup. Lunch might also be leftovers of the previous night's dinner, which Julia Child wisely referred to as "feasting on the remains". With the change of season we begin to change our meals. In spring we might prepare a light soup and also turn our attention to salads.
As we order seed for the garden, we keep in mind the vegetables and herbs we like to have on hand for our kitchen in the coming months. This year we are growing several greens including arugula 'astro', wild arugula 'sylvetta,
romaine 'little gem', along with other greens. In the following recipe we chose to use what looked the best at the market, arugula and romaine, but any fresh greens will do. Roasted peppers have long been a favorite in our kitchen. Marinated roasted peppers are a simple and colorful side dish for grilled lamb or can be a salad unto themselves.

Roasting peppers: Place (3 )peppers over the flame of stovetop burner, leave there until outer skin is roasted. With tongs turn roasting each side of the pepper (it will look quite charred). Place the peppers on a plate and let cool. Once cool enough to handle cut off the tops and remove core and seeds. Slice each pepper in half and remove the charred outer skin from the peppers. For the salad cut strips about 1/2 inch wide. Place pepper strips into a bowl and toss with lemon & oil , recipe follows (or substitute a vinaigrette).
Lemon & Oil dressing: Squeeze about 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice into small bowl, whisk in about 3 tablespoons good olive oil, add pinch of kosher salt and grinding of pepper. Drizzle about 1/3-1/2 of the mixture over the peppers, toss and add the garlic. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, leave at room temperature for at least an hour, remove the pieces of garlic before serving. Taste, add salt if needed and chopped fresh herbs, such as basil.
Put salad greens in bowl, toss with lemon & oil mixture adding only enough to just lightly dress the greens, add salt, pepper and chopped fresh herbs. Olives, feta cheese, shaved parmesan, or any fresh and seasonal ingredient can be added.