This happy Summer veg with sweet pepper and tomato sauce is a colourful vegetable dish that the family will absolutely love. The recipe calls for success, e.g. using familiar ingredients, cooked in simple ways and brought together by a yummy tomato and red pepper sauce.
I believe this is an excellent Mediterranean-inspired dish that will generally cover daily needs for fibre (there are 6 different veg used) and anti-inflammatory nutrients (from a rainbow of veg). Your microbiome- your healthy gut bacteria will love it too as they thrive on different plant fibres.
The choice of vegetables can vary according to seasonality or ‘whatever is on the fridge, kind of thing’. I choose Summer veg (courgettes, peppers and green beans). However, it can work with root vegetables too, e.g. roasted butternut squash, carrots, beetroot or cauliflower.
I find the tomato sauce brings everything together. It is important to have a tasty dressing with vegetables. Or else, they can be bland and chewy without much flavour. My choice of spices can be adapted. I encourage you to experiment with different ones and have fun.
This dish can be served as a main or in combination with meat or fish. I do not like to think of this dish as a side dish, but rather as a vegetable-based dish that can be combined with meat or fish. Vegetarians may want to add some eggs or cheese.
This dish is actually perfect for getting kids of all ages cooking too!
Happy Summer veg with sweet pepper and tomato sauce
Ingredients
- 1 kg new potatoes
- 2 cans cannellinni beans
- 2 courgettes
- 4 red peppers
- 2 yellow peppers
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
- 1 leek
- 1 bag mixed salad leaves
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- sea salt
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Boil the new potatoes in salted water for 7 minutes. Drain the water, cut them in half and place them on an oven tray. Toss in some olive oil, sweet paprika and salt. Roast them under a medium grill for 5-7minutes until golden.
- Boil the green beans in salted water until firm but tender.
- Roast the courgettes and peppers (whole) with a little olive oil on top for 30 minutes in a medium oven. Dice the courgettes and peel off the skin of the peppers. Reserve.
- Rinse the cannellini beans and drain well.
- Dice the leeks and brown them in a little olive oil. Meanwhile, halve the cherry tomatoes and add them in together with the spices. Simmer uncovered at low temperature until the vegetables are soft. It is important to cook them at a low heat to get the sweetness out of the tomato sauce. Check the seasoning. If too sour, you may add a little honey or sweetener of choice.
- When the sauce thickens, add 2 finely chopped roasted red peppers and keep cooking at a low heat until all the vegetables come into a sauce. Season to taste.
Serving
- Choose a large serving dish. First, place some salad leaves at the bottom. Then place carefully the rest of the ingredients one by one in a way that is fun and colourful, i.e. roasted potatoes, cannellini beans, green beans and roasted red and yellow peppers (cut lengthwise). This is your chance to make it pretty and have some fun (especially if cooking with kids).
- Finally, scatter the sweet tomato and red pepper sauce on top. Serve away!
