Bell Pepper Antipasto

I made some impulse purchases at Costco this week. I went with my mom, mostly for the conversation, and left with $50 of crap. How does this happen?

Anyway, one of my purchases was a big old bag of bell peppers. I'm not a pepper fan usually, but these looked good.

I made antipasto for the first time with them. You could use these on pizza, with crackers and cheese, gulped down by the handful ... trust me, I'm not a bell lover but these are tasty. Just don't over cook.

Oh, and these were especially lovely on a little turkey sandwich I made on a pretzel slider bun (also spontaneously purchased at Costco).

Bell Pepper Antipasto

Ingredients:
3 bell peppers (I used one each of ref, yellow, and orange), seeded and chopped into thin strips
1.5 T. coconut oil (olive would be fine)
Salt and pepper
1 t. dried basil
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. garlic powder (or 2-3 garlic cloves, minced)
1.5 T. red wine vinegar

Heat a big pan over medium, add the coconut oil. When it's hot and melted, add the peppers, herbs and garlic powder, then salt and pepper to taste.

Sautée until peppers are just cooked. Turn off heat, stir in the vinegar.

Let peppers hang out, preferably at room temperature, for about an hour. Eat or cover and refrigerate to serve later.

Cottage Cheese Salad

Sounds funky, right? This is an adaptation of a Moosewood recipe. It's good, and it's a great way to get some protein without eating meat, if you so desire. You can sub in whatever veggies sound good to you (or whatever you have on hand), just make sure to dice them small.

Cottage Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

About 4 c. cottage cheese
1/2 English cucumber, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 green onion, chopped
About 3 T. lemon juice
1/3 c. craisins (dried cranberries)
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 hard boiled eggs, salted and diced

Combine all ingredients, adjusting lemon juice, salt, and pepper to your liking. Cover tightly and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.
Salt and pepper to taste

Cherry Rhubarb Pie

Holy cow, my local grocery store had a huge cherry sale this week! Believe me when I tell you that this never happens. I may have overbought. So ... I made this. And it was GOOD.

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts
3 large rhubarb stalks, chopped
3 cups of cherries, pitted
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. almond extract
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
2 T. tapioca
1/4 c. lime juice

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix everything but the crust together in a large bowl, let it sit for 15 minutes.

Place one crust in a large pie pan, and fill it with the contents of your large bowl. Lattice the top (or just make a full 2-crust pie if you don't want to deal with a lattice).

Cover the edges with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool and serve.