Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade

This tapenade is the best! I use this for a topping on Mediterranean inspired salad instead of dressing, as an accompaniment to grilled portabellos and eggplant snitzel, as a dip for cut raw veggies like zucchini, cucumber, carrots, etc. I first bought some at Trader Joe's and it is really good. It is in a small jar- Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade. I looked for a recipe to be able to make it myself. I found one (allrecipes.com) and tested it on several friends and they thought it was good. So here it is:


Ingredients

* 1 (7 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
* 1 (6 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
* 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup drained capers
* 4 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the red peppers, artichoke hearts, cilantro, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, capers, garlic, and lemon juice. Pulse until finely chopped and the mixture is blended. Transfer to a serving bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving to blend the flavors.

Notes:
**Be sure to mince or chop the garlic and you might want to reduce the amount of garlic the first time.
*I put the capers in the processor first to finely mince and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Let me know if you make it and come up with other uses! Enjoy!