Roasted Red-Pepper Involitini

"Involtini" basically translates as "adorable mini-roll-up." Appetizers don't come any simpler than this beauty, especially if you can track down some fresh ricotta.

Fresh Corn & Red Pepper Bisque

Red pepper soup is now such a standard that I keep expecting it to replace canned cream of tomato. What an improvement that would be! This bisque makes use of another summer favorite: fresh corn. Feel free to replace the low-fat sour cream with something richer if you dare.

Yellow Pepper and Red Tomato Salad

What's better than sweet red peppers? Sweet red and yellow-red peppers, cooked the teeniest bit to mellow them and then combined with summer-fresh tomatoes. Dijon vinaigrette and crumbled Gorgonzola make the perfect foil.

Sweet Pepper Steak

This is not the kind of pepper steak you get in frozen dinners; it's a bona fide steak. The recipe is almost too easy for such delicious results.

Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches

One of my favorite summer activities is strolling around the Bridgewater Fair that's always held in August in the next town over. I make sure to visit the livestock barn, needlework exhibit, and sausage-with-peppers booth. And if the fair is rained out, I stay home and make my own sausage-and-pepper sandwich. Then I give myself a blue ribbon.

Spanish Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches

Roasted sweet peppers make a great meat substitute (if you're a meat-eater) and a great main ingredient (if you're a vegetarian). In this roasted vegetable sandwich, the peppers are pureed with almonds and garlic — a luscious Spanish technique that also makes the sandwich easier to eat.

Spicy Chicken Pizza

Make sure to slice the peppers for this upgraded pizza extra thin. The recipe is super easy, so you'll have time.

Southern Grits Casserole with Red Pepper Relish

Here, red pepper relish co-stars with cheesy grits. The relish tastes as bright as it looks.

Stuffed Peppers Mole

Doesn't a sweet pepper column have to feature stuffed bell peppers? Here's a Tex-Mex version that's loads tastier, more interesting, and better-looking than the drab stuffed peppers of bygone days.