Why, with lemon zest of course!
Quarter some peppers, cut some peeled carrots and parsnips, season and put into a roasting pan at medium heat. Peel sweet pototoes, cut into chunks and zap in microwave for 10 minutes, then let it join the party in the oven. While the vegetables roast, deseed cucumbers and slice. Also cut up some Italian bacon, which the vendor at the market says is called bacon, not any special Italian name, but it is very tasty and not fatty at all, just pure briny porky meat, throw that in too.
Toss everything gently with more of your favourite olive oil and good salt and a touch of balsamic vinegar if you like. Finally, grate the zest of one lemon on top, mix to let the heat soften the sour-bitter bite of the zest and there we have it, a beautiful and beautiful-tasting winter salad.
Thanks to my friend Sui Mai for the idea. She was raving about O & Co's lemon olive oil which has a bright irresistable flavour. I hesitated about buying but decided to adapt the idea for the salad and the result was astoundingly good. We should know because we eat roast vegetables ALL the freaking time yet this still amazed us that's how good it was.
