Daily Plate: Multi-Tasking

I know I’ve mentioned how much I hate to waste leftovers, but I think the only thing worse than that is when fresh vegetables go bad in the fridge. It makes me so sad! It’s tough when you’re really busy to cook every night. I’m a big fan of making big batches and multi-tasking. I feel like if I’m already in the kitchen, I may as well get as much done as I can in there.

For example, whenever I’m putting some vegetables in to roast, I try to throw in whatever else I might want to have roasted. The other day, as I was putting in some lentil-stuffed poblanos, I decided to add a red pepper. Roasted peppers are so easy to make and are wonderful on everything from sandwiches to salads and even in sauces. It also goes perfectly on pita bread with some homemade hummus.

Basically, you just heat the oven to 350 or 375 and, in the case of peppers, just put them in a pan or on a sheet and slide them right on in to the oven. I wrapped the stuffed peppers in foil because I find they come out moister that way, but you don’t have to. Forty minutes to an hour later, you’re done. The only thing to do after cooling is to remove the seeds and take the skin off a non-stuffed pepper, which takes all of five minutes. Lovely.