Red Day (Peppers and Beans)

Sometimes it just seems like every meal of every day could contain wheat products.... That can't be good. Not just because it is wheat, but because too much of anything can't be good. I had toast with peanut butter and banana for breakfast, leftover pasta with roasted red pepper and spinach sauce for lunch, and I when I got home from work, I was determined that our supper was not going to contain wheat products too.

I started by throwing some cubed potatoes with olive oil and sea salt in the roaster, but I had no idea what to have with the potatoes. My imagination was not working well, so I went to an old favourite recipe booklet. While flipping through to one of my old stand-by recipes, I found one for "Red Bean Salsa with Baked Potatoes."  Hmmm.... a salsa to go with potatoes.... baked/roasted.... whatever.... sounded good to me. 

As usual, I altered the recipe based on my likes and what I had in the cupboard, but it was really delicious and simple.

Red Bean Salsa

Into a bowl put:

1 19 oz can red beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup green pepper, chopped

1 cup ripe tomatoes, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

fresh chopped cilantro to taste (I like lots)

Stir all ingredients together, cover and refridgerate for an hour or so.

It was yummy on roasted potatoes, but would be great with tortilla chips too!

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce 

Put into a roaster, or large cake pan:

4 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered

1 large onion, quartered

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil

Roast at 350 for about an hour or until pepper skins are loose.  Let cool until touchable. 

Remove skins from the peppers. Put peeled peppers and the rest of the roasted veggies in a blender. Blend until smooth, then transfer to a sauce pan. Add several handfuls of spinach and heat through. Toss with your favourite pasta.