Roasted Red Pepper and Black Olive Salad

'A salad without salad leaves? It's preposterous!' Sometimes we have to think outside the box. As well as a tasty starter, this is a great light lunch with some crusty bread, or it can be served as a side dish with a good steak or grilled fish.

Ingredients

2 large red peppers

Olive oil

A large sprig of thyme (or marjoram or oregano)

1 small shallot

A small handful of pitted black olives

Black pepper

Good balsamic vinegar

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

• Halve the peppers lengthways and de-seed them. Place them on an oiled baking tray, cut side down, and pop them in the oven for 20–25 minutes until charred. Remove them and, while still hot, transfer them to a large bowl and immediately cover with cling film and allow to cool for about 10–15 minutes.

• In the meantime pick the leaves off the thyme, finely dice the shallot and halve the pitted olives.

• When the peppers are cool, peel off the skins; don’t worry if a little remains. Slice the peppers into long thin slices and place in a serving bowl. Season with some freshly cracked black pepper.

• Add in the thyme leaves, shallot and olives and generously drizzle over the balsamic vinegar.

• Allow to cool fully before serving.