My first recipe that I cooked from the cookbook Arabesque by Claudia Roden is a Moroccan Roast pepper, Tomato, and Apple salad. In this post I will be sharing why I chose this recipe, the process of making the recipe, whether I liked the dish and if I would I would make this again.
How and Why I chose this recipe: The Arabesque book is divided into recipes from 3 countries Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon. The book features starters, mains and desserts from each country. The first country that is represented in the book is Morocco.
The Moroccan Roast pepper, Tomato, and Apple Salad is from the Moroccan starters and Kemia section. Kemia is an assortment of Moroccan cold appetizers that is served with bread.
Since It’s summer I thought a cold appetizer would be a good recipe to start with. I chose this particular recipe simply because I was intrigued by the unusual combination of peppers, tomato, and sweet apples.
The process of making this recipe was quite straightforward, but a bit time consuming for a salad(It took close to one hour.).The ingredients needed were all things I had on hand, except for the red peppers. Instead of using three red peppers like the recipe asked for, I used one red pepper, one yellow and one orange. I personally don’t think it altered the overall flavor of the dish as all the peppers were quite sweet.
The big question how did the recipe turn out? I think calling this dish a salad is misleading because it’s more like a dip that I would eat with bread. While the overall flavor of this Moroccan Roast pepper, Tomato,and Apple Salad was reasonably tasty, it was a just a tad bit on the sweet side. The recipe did call for garlic and chili pepper which in theory should have balanced out the sweetness of the roasted peppers and apples, but it didn’t.
I would give this recipe another try, but I would change up a few things. Instead of roasting the peppers, I would just sauté it in the pan with the onions to save time and to achieve a better texture. The original recipe calls for sweet apples, but tart apples like granny smith would be better suited. To finish off the salad and to add some freshness I would add some freshly chopped mint on top.
The recipe for this Moroccan Roast pepper, Tomato, and Apple Salad is posted below, you could make it as is or use my suggestions above. Happy cooking!!
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| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 3 red bell peppers see above
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 large tomatoes peeled and chopped
- 1 to 2 whole chili peppers (I used 2 small green chilies alternatively you can use ½ to1 tsp of red chili flakes)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 sweet apples (gala or golden delicious cored skin on and cut into fours., gala or golden delicious
Ingredients
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- For roasting the peppers pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil and place the peppers on the pan. Roast the peppers for 20 to 25 minutes or till the skin of the peppers have blackened. Remove from the oven, place the peppers on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Let the peppers sit for 10 minutes and once the peppers are cooled peel of the skin, discard the seeds and the stem. Cut the peppers into thin slices and keep aside.
- In a pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and fry till lightly browned. Add the chopped garlic and stir for a minute or till lightly browned.
- Add the tomatoes and whole chilies. Season everything with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
- 3. Add the sliced peppers to the onion mixture, then add the quartered apples cut side down. Cook the apples till tender on medium to low heat. If the mixture is getting to dry, add a bit of water. Just before the apples are done cooking, turn them over to skin side down.
- Remove the salad from the pan and place it in a dish. Let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 30-35 minutes before serving. Drizzle the salad with remaining olive oil and serve.
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