Painted Desert Roasted Pepper Salad

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon mexican oregano (see note)
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 green chilies, mild,roasted (any combo of your choice of anaheim, new mexico or poblanos)
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted
• 1 green bell pepper, roasted
• 1 yellow bell pepper, roasted
• cotija cheese or aged monterey jack cheese, crumbled or shredded,to taste (see note)
• romaine lettuce or other sturdy lettuce leaf (to garnish)

Recipe

• 1 dressing: in a blender, purée the oils with the garlic and onion.
• 2 strain into a large jar with a lid.
• 3 add the remaining dressing ingredients to the jar.
• 4 cover and shake well, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• 5 roasted peppers salad: slice the roasted chiles and roasted bell peppers into ribbons, 1/2 inch thick.
• 6 arrange them decoratively on a serving platter, then pour the dressing over the chiles and peppers.
• 7 sprinkle the cheese over the pepper mixture and garnish around the edges with the lettuce.
• 8 note: i did not have mexican oregano, so i used epazote, and liked the results very much.
• 9 other possible substitutions could be savory, regular oregano, thyme, rosemary, or summer savory.
• 10 i used about 2-3 tablespoons of shredded monterey jack cheese per serving, and i felt that was the perfect amount.
• 11 although the recipe did not state it, i topped it with a little bit of crushed guacamole-flavored tortilla chips.
• 12 you could do the same with regular tortilla chips too, if desired.