Roasted Red Pepper Dressing and Caramelized Pecans

Here are the recipes that I promised quite awhile ago. The batches are quite large-you made need to cut them in half. I serve them with mixed spring greens, grated carrots, diced tomatoes and julienne strips of red and green bell pepper.

Just a note: I learned in an allergen webinar this last week that roasting pecans makes them more toxic for those who are allergic to them...interesting.

Caramelized Pecans

Ingredients

1 lb. Pecans
6 oz. Butter
1/2 lb. Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat own to 350 degrees.
2. Put the Pecans in the oven for 6 minutes, or until fully roasted.
3. Place a skillet on the stove and melt the butter, add the brown sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Be sure to stir constantly, emulsify the sugar and butter.
4. Add the cayenne pepper to the mixture, then add the Pecans. Coat them well, stirring.
5. Place the Pecans on a cookie sheet and let them cool down.

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Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

Ingredients

2 Cups Roasted Red Pepper Puree
1 Pinch Cayenne Pepper
1 Pinch Black Pepper
2 Cups Italian Dressing (I use the Kraft Fat Free)
1/4 tsp. Salt (To Taste)

Preparation

1. Spray peppers with cooking spray. Roast about 1.5 pounds of red bell peppers, either over the flame or by placing the peppers in the oven at 400 degrees. Bake peppers for about 10 minutes or until the skin looks brown in color, as soon as they come out of the oven put them in a plastic bag and let them rest for about half an hour. Peel the peppers, get rid of all the skin and seeds. Put the peppers in a blender to make the puree.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and combine together well. Store in the fridge- I've also had sucess freezing half of the dressing and thawing for later use.