Nigella's three seasonal salads

Chargrilled peppers with pomegranate

Ingredients 

• 6 peppers (ideally a mix of red, orange and yellow, but never, ever, ever green; all red is fine though)
• seeds from 2 pomegranates, or 150g
• pomegranate seeds from a tub/packet
• 2 x 15ml tablespoons fresh pomegranate juice
• 2 teaspoons lime or lemon juice
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 x 15ml tablespoon garlic oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 3 x 15ml tablespoons drained capers

Directions
1 It was only a matter of time before I came back to the pomegranate. I am relaxed as to how you combine the peppers with the pomegranate. I often make this with frozen bags of chargrilled peppers, which I tip out, unthawed, onto a baking sheet and roast in a hot oven for about 20 minutes. These I often eat warm, with some olive oil and lemon juice (or freshly squeezed pomegranate juice mixed with lime) tossed through, along with a handful of pomegranate seeds. For my cold version I simply use chargrilled peppers from a jar, in place of the roasted packet ones.

2 Below is the method you'll need if you're chargrilling the peppers
yourself. It isn't difficult, just fiddly. Sometimes, I like an excuse to busy myself undemandingly in the kitchen. At other times, I unashamedly take the shortcuts above.

3 This salad is also good if you leave the peppers raw, just deseeded and cut into 1cm-wide strips, all juicy and crunchy, as are the pomegranate seeds, only the peppers are markedly sweeter.

4 If I know all parties will be agreeable, I make a dressing by blending or whisking 2 anchovy fillets with a tablespoonful of red wine vinegar and three of olive oil. Otherwise, the dressing below is perfect.

5 To turn this into a first course, simply add some crumbled feta or sharp goat's cheese. And whether I'm using raw, packet, jarred or home-charred peppers, I like to go for a mix of red, orange and yellow, to create an edible flame on the plate.

6 Preheat the oven to 250°C/gas mark 9.

7 Cut the peppers in half, remove the stalk and seeds, and sit them cut-side down on an oven tray or a couple of trays. Roast in the hot oven until they blister; about 15 minutes should do it.

8 Take out of the oven, and quickly tip the blackened peppers into a big bowl.

9 Cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm and leave the peppers to cool enough to handle.

10 Use your hands to peel off strips of charred skin (don't worry if some is left on) and, as you go, put torn strips of peppers into a serving dish.

11 When you've done all of them, add most of the pomegranate seeds to the peppers and toss well.

12 Whisk together the pomegranate and lime juices (or lemon juice, if using), the olive oil, garlic oil and salt. I often just put everything into an old mustard jar with a lid, and shake. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently but well.

13 Add the crocodile-green capers, the perfect salty counterpart to the juicy sweet red peppers, and toss again, taste for seasoning, then add a final scattering of rubied seeds.

Tip: Make the salad, without the capers, up to 1 day ahead. Cover and keep cool. When ready to serve, add the capers and toss again. Check the seasoning then scatter with extra pomegranate seeds.

Makes 8 servings.

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Excerpted from Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities with permission by Knopf Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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