Yellow Bell Pepper Romesco Sauce

I am by nature a plain (read: lazy) cook, which is what makes having sauces like this one so great. I made a big batch of this yesterday and will eat it for days on striped bass fillets (broiled with salt and pepper), roasted vegetables (cut up, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted), roasted chicken (rubbed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted), and with just plain sliced bread.

I used yellow bell peppers because they looked so pretty at the produce market, but you can use red or orange ones instead. To make this even faster, you can even use roasted red peppers from a jar. You’ll need about 1 mounded cup of drained peppers. And if you don’t have pine nuts, you can substitute almonds or walnuts.

Put this low-carb, low-cal sauce on almost anything—it’s good stuff to have around when you don’t feel like cooking.

Yellow Bell Pepper Romesco Sauce

Makes generous 1 cup

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 large yellow or red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, stems and seeds removed

2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, crushed through a press

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the pine nuts in a small baking dish and bake, shaking the pan once or twice, until the nuts are lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool (don’t keep them in the hot pan or they will continue to toast).

2. Preheat the broiler. Lightly oil a small rimmed baking pan and place the bell pepper halves skin side up on the pan. Broil the peppers, turning the pan as needed, until the skin of the peppers is blackened and blistered, about 10 minutes. Transfer the peppers to a bowl; set a plate over the bowl to hold in the heat. Let stand until the peppers are cool enough to handle, 15-20 minutes. Peel away and discard the skins of the peppers.

3. Combine the pine nuts, peppers, and the remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. (If your peppers are really large, you might need a little more liquid to get to a “saucy” consistency; you can add a few teaspoons of cold water or chicken broth.) Serve at once, or cover and refrigerate up to 4 days.

Each serving (about 2 tablespoons): 4 g carbohydrate, 73 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 1 g protein, 71 mg sodium

Carb Choices: 0; Exchanges: 1 fat