Bell Pepper with Shitake Mushrooms

This is also pretty straightforward. I am writing it up as a post because I think the flavors taste good together. To rehydrate dried mushrooms, simply place them in a large bowl and add boiling water. Let them soak before using. The leftover liquid is mushroom dashi and can be used to flavor soups.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

3 large bell peppers, sliced into 1/2" pieces
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c. dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated
1 tbsp low-sodium natural soy sauce
sea salt, to taste
olive oil, for frying

Directions

1. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil easily spreads across the bottom of the pan, add garlic and stir until lightly browned.

2. Add bell peppers and mushrooms and stir fry until the peppers have changed color. If using green bell peppers, the green with be a much richer lawn-green color. This should take no more than five minutes.

3. Season with soy sauce and sea salt while frying. Remove from heat and serve.

Roasted Bell Peppers

Roasting bell peppers seems simple enough, so why blog about it? Because tastes are individual and this ratio and process works for my oven. ;) For this recipe I used Himalayan pink salt. Maybe one day I'll try it with Sicillian sea salt which also is in the pantry. Also, when I roasted the peppers the first time, I used parchment paper with a baking sheet; but alas, that did not work so well.

If you're going to use a baking sheet, you need to butter or lightly grease it so that the carmelized peppers do not burn or stick to the sheet.

Materials

An oven-proof glass or ceramic baking pan large enough to accommodate the peppers

Ingredients

Fresh bell peppers, whole or sliced, any variety
Olive oil
Salt, any variety

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Add whole or sliced peppers to baking pan. Drizzle olive oil on top of peppers. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning the peppers at least once.

Remove from oven and add to other recipes or enjoy as is.