Itsy Bitsy Foodies

The flavors of this salad are inspired by one of my most memorable meals.  That is a strong statement, especially when the meal was a humble roadside picnic.  But it’s not too surprising given that the picnic was in the Spanish countryside and the meal consisted of Spanish cheese and peppers roasted minutes before at a nearby market.

The smell of red peppers roasting in my oven takes me back to that day.  My parents were visiting me in northern Spain and we were driving through the Pyrenees.  The name of the little town slips my mind but we stopped at a market festival where they were roasting red peppers.  We bought a bag of the roasted peppers, cheese and baguette.  Not far from the town we pulled off at a lookout at the top of a hill where from our picnic table we savoured each bite of our make-shift sandwiches and the expansive view of rolling green hills and sheep below.

The combination of slightly smoky, melt-in-your-mouth roasted red peppers and sharp cheese is now one of my favorites.  In this salad I used Manchego cheese but queso iberico, Idiazabal and many other Spanish, Basque and French cheeses can be substituted.  And truth be told, if you don’t like or don’t have access to the aforementioned cheeses, roasted red peppers also pair well with mozzarella, Jack and many other cheeses.

I made my basic balsamic vinaigrette but I used a mixture of white wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar.