Fresh Approach Cooking

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Ooh, ooh. It's leap day! Also known as Sadie Hawkins Day. Or, apparently the day ladies are given social permission to ask men to marry them.

What sassy good fun. Hippity-hop.

Me, I'm avoiding (The Ombudsman) any such entanglements, just in case things get weird, and focusing on the important things.

With the blissful weather (Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus! The Groundhog was wrong! Spring has sprung! Whoopeeee!) I have a whole new zest for life (which was tricky, since I was a pretty zesty girl to start with) and renewed zeal for all things food.

The markets round the hood are a bounty of early strawberries, lithesome asparagus and the last of the sparkling citrus. Peppers are just coming to an end and me, I'm all aflutter (A flutter? Fluttery? Flibberty! I digress...Happy Leap Day!) over what's in store, in this cusp of the seasons.

It's as if we have it all right now. Winter, spring, summer and fall.

So what do I do with this co-mingling of delights? Why this salad of course. A salad without greens. Because darlings, not all salads are leafy.

It is a nice little way to combine the best of late winter/early spring produce in a summery-weather way. Ties is all up quite nicely, don't you think?

Try this my peaches, and taste the joy.


6 large red bell peppers
2 teaspoons capers, rinsed and minced
4 cloves of garlic
4 teaspoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Roast your peppers over an open flame, or under the broiler until charred on all sides. Place in a bowl and cover the bowl to allow the peppers to steam a few minutes.

Meanwhile, mince the garlic and saute briefly in the olive oil. Add the capers just at the last moment then remove the pan from the heat. Set aside to cool.

Remove the peppers from the bowl, rinse off the charred skin, and remove the seeds. Slice into strips.

Layer on a platter, drizzle with olive oil, garlic and capers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Serves six

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The edible ice cream cone made its American debut at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and now, the ice cream cone has won Senate approval to become Missouri's official dessert.

Pork producer Smithfield Foods said Thursday that third-quarter profits fell about 10 percent on lower live hog prices and higher raising costs, but the results beat expectations handily. The nation's largest hog producer and pork processor also forecast a difficult fourth quarter. - AP

Labels: Gluten Free, Low-Carb, Salad, Side-Dish, Vegan, Vegetarian