I miss my kitchen so much, you guys! I’ve been on the road for work (nowhere exciting) and there aren’t really any good eats to talk about*. I’ve been reading Gwyneth Paltrow’s new cookbook while I’m here (checked it out of the library – I was curious), and there are a few intriguing things I want to try.  I can’t wait to get home and back to the all the tomatoes, peaches, raspberries and corn I know are waiting at the farmer’s market.

But first we can chat about this little lunch I made when Alexis, Nick and little miss Mila came to visit a few weeks ago. I know it seems a bit unreasonable to crank your oven to 500 in July to roast peppers, but this is definitely for a good cause (so is homemade pizza, which I finally figured out and will share shortly).  This delicious concoction has roasted peppers marinated in balsamic vinegar, garlic and olive oil, and layered on ciabatta bread with goat cheese, thin slices of red onion and fresh basil. You could also switch this up as an appetizer by assembling on little slices of toasted baguette (which I ate for dinner the next day). I can also picture the same ingredients tossed into a pasta salad with a few squeezes of lemon. Yum! I know these were good because my lunch guests gobbled them up and asked for more.  Except for one who decided to have a nap instead!

I’ll tell you about those salads in the next post!

*I did go to Kathleen’s for the weekend where I ate like a queen, but I’ll talk about that later!

Roasted Pepper & Goat Cheese Sandwiches

Source: Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients

4 red/orange/yellow peppers

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp drained capers (I skipped these)

1 large ciabatta bread (or other delicious bread of your choice)

1 small log goat cheese

8-10 large basil leaves

a few thin slices red onion

Directions

1. To roast the peppers, fire up your oven to 500 degrees. Place the whole peppers on a sheet pan and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the skins are completely wrinkled and the peppers are charred, turning them twice during roasting. Remove the peppers from the oven, place in a heat proof bowl, and immediately cover it tightly with plastic wrap or tin foil. Set aside for 30 minutes, until the peppers are cool enough to handle. When they are, remove the stem from each pepper and cut them in quarters. Remove the peels and the seeds and add back to the bowl with any juices that have collected.
2. In another small bowl, combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the peppers, stir in the capers (if using), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavours to blend.
3. To assemble sandwiches, spread the bottom half of your bread with goat cheese. Add a layer of peppers, a layer of basil leaves, top with onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Voila!