Shishitos

I learned about these amazing peppers at the farm I worked on in California. They reign from Japan (they have a cousin called Padrons from Spain) and when prepared properly are a simple, addictive tapas style pepper snack. I can’t say I like them raw or even heavily sautéed… just prepare as described below and you won’t be disappointed. Enjoy as a snack with a cold beer or use as a garnish for a different dish. The key is to consume while they’re hot. Be careful, every once in a while you get a spicy one but they all look the same.

Ingredients:

• Shishitos

• olive oil

• flaky salt or kosher salt

Heat a dry skillet (that’s right, don’t put any olive oil in the skillet) over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the peppers and let them blister on each side before rotating them. Once the entire pepper has blistered (don’t be shy), remove from the skillet and very lightly drizzle olive oil over them (start out with a few drops as it spreads quickly - you don’t want to have oily peppers), sprinkle with salt and enjoy right away.

Optional: instead of salt, sprinkle a few drops of soy sauce or tamari - adds a fun umami flavor