When I wanted a recipe to accompany my newest favorite Shish Kebabs, I didn’t want to go “full on” Turkish – but I wanted to give a little nod to the flavors of the classic salad, Ezme. I rooted around in the cupboard and fridge and came up with this gorgeous Bell Pepper and Tomato Salad.
As so often happens, I didn’t think to snap a photo of the salad by its self, but here it is plated with the Yogurt Marinated Shish Kebabs.
Bell Pepper and Tomato Salad
This gorgeous salad is bright and refreshing – with a simple dressing that has just a bit of bite from the vinegar and a sweet, tangy note from the Sweet Chile sauce. It went over equally well with the kids and adults.
You’ll want to adjust the flavors to your palette – and maybe make more!
Bell Pepper and Tomato Salad, serves 4, cost
- 1 large Bell Pepper, preferably yellow or orange
- 3 plum tomatoes
- 2 green onions (optional)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon Sweet Chili sauce
- Salt and Pepper
Cut peppers and tomatoes into bite sized chunks and place in a bowl. Thinly slice green onion and add. Mix the sauce from the rest of ingredients and pour over the vegetables. Mix and chill for an hour or overnight.
Money and Time Saving Strategies:
For pricing, remember to use your coupon matching sites for your local stores. My favorite is Pocket Your Dollars in my area, but every store has a group of enthusiastic couponers who can point you to the best bargains. Don’t be discouraged if your prices are higher at first – just keep shopping the best sales and follow the strategies and you’ll get there! Check under Saving on Basic Ingredients for more detailed information and storage hints – use <control f> to search each page to bring you to the item you want to check out.
- Bell Peppers: It’s a good idea to figure out the per pound or per pepper pricing. An average pepper is about five ounces, but if going per pepper, get the largest ones you can find. Mine was 75 cents a pepper, a little higher than the best sale prices in the summer. Cost 75 cents.
- Tomatoes: Out of season, plum tomatoes are a good choice and go on sale often. At $1.19 a pound, the cost is around 60 cents.
- Tomato Paste: Another item I generally don’t pay for – keep it in a Ziploc bag in your freezer and thaw for a few minutes if you need to. Cost 0
- Green Onion: I cut and use the green parts and put the bulbs in water in my window – they grow for weeks and weeks. Cost 0
- Other ingredients: I alway use coupons and watch for sales for condiments – the other ingredients are really nominal in such small amounts. Look for Asian ingredients like the Chili Sauce to on sale after New Years when the Chinese New Year is approaching. Vinegar is often on sale around Easter and during the summer.
Nutrition: Cal 68, % fr fat 47; tot fat 4g; sat fat .51g; chol 0; sod 39mg; tot carb 9g; fib 2g; sug 4g; prot 2g
Put Your own Spin on It:
- You couldn’t go wrong with a bit of lemon or lime on this salad.
- A hot pepper of any kind would be good, finely diced.
- This would be a perfect salad mixed with a grain: couscous, quinoa, bulgar or rice. (Make a little extra sauce!)
Tomato and Bell Pepper Salad made May 2012
