Category: Salads

1 Onion, thinly sliced

1 Red bell pepper, cored and chopped

3 Garlic cloves thinly sliced, and

1 Garlic clove finely chopped

3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, plus

1 tbsp Olive oil, if desired

Salt, to taste

5 Ripe tomatoes with juice, fresh or canned

1/4 Jalapeno chile, seeded and minced

1 pinch Cumin

1 pinch Turmeric

1 pinch Ginger

1 pinch Saffron threads

1/8 tsp Fennel seeds OR 1/4-bulb fennel, diced

2 tbsp Sugar, or as desired

1 tbsp Drained capers, or more to taste

10 Mediterranean olives, green or black, pitted and cut into halves

2 tbsp Raisins

3 tbsp Lemon juice, or more to taste

1 tbsp Chopped fresh marjoram and/or parsley

Lightly saute the onion, peppers and sliced garlic in the olive oil until they soften; sprinkle with salt as they cook. Add the tomatoes, jalapeno, cumin, turmeric, ginger, saffron, fennel and sugar; cook for 10 minutes or so, until thickened and saucelike.



Stir in the capers, olives, raisins and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning; you want a sweet- sour-spicy balance. Adjust the sugar, lemon juice and spices accordingly.



Stir in the marjoram and/or parsley and the reserved chopped garlic, taste for seasoning and set aside to cool.



Serve as a sauce with the chicken, or as a spread for crostini. Serves 4.



PER (4th) SERVING: 185 calories, 2 g protein, 21 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 281 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.



Excerpt from SF Chronicle 05/06/98 Food Section see www.sfgate.com ; Busted by HANNEMAN



Notes: "This is a variation on the classic Sicilian recipe, using peppers instead of eggplant. A caponata is sweet and sour, and very savory, much like a contemporary European chutney. This one is spicy, too -- a small dab on the citrus-spiced chicken breasts enlivens it brilliantly."



Recipe by: Marlena Spieler, San Francisco Chronicle (1998)



Posted to MC-Recipe Digest by Kitpath <phannema@wizard.ucr.edu> on May 07, 1998