Here is one more minimalist brined salad, this time with Hungarian peppers and fresh ripe tomatoes. I grew up with this as a seasonal salad, but I keep making it with yellow bell peppers throughout the year. But you know what they say about imitations. They are not as good as the real thing. To make it really good, you need these huge thick valled Hungarian peppers and ripe tomatoes off the wine and literally. Not what they sell in the store as wine ripened. Bah. For now we can gorge ourselves with the best peppers in the world and with tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes. What a great time of year August is, some days we have more than one version of these brined salads! You can serve it right of way but of course the flavour will not be the same. To fully develop the flavours, make this at least 4 hours before serving. But make only what you can eat the same day. The tomatoes will be too soft the following day.
PEPPER AND TOMATO SALAD
2 large Hungarian bell peppers3 cups of boiling water
salt to taste
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp 5% white vinegar
2 large ripe tomatoes
• Wash and core the peppers.
• Slice into rings and place in a medium bowl.
• Pour 3 cups of boiling water over the pepper rings and sprinkle with salt.
• Let it cool down to room temperature.
• Pour some of the pepper water into a small bowl and add the sugar and the vinegar.
• Stir to dissolve.
• Add back to the bowl with the peppers.
• Stir to combine.
• Wash and cut the tomatoes into wedges, removing the cores.
• Add the tomatoes to the bowl with the peppers.
• Set the salad aside on the counter for a couple of hours for the flavours to blend.
