Roasted Vegetable Spread

Joe has a serious man-crush on Alton Brown of the show Good Eats on Food Network. After much contemplation as to why this is, I've come up with three possibilities:

1. Alton lives in Alpharetta, GA which is where Joe is from. Whenever Alton goes to the grocery store on his show, it's the same store Joe's family went to when they lived there. Joe likes to remind me of this everytime.
2. Alton explains the scientific reasoning behind cooking. Joe loves science.
3. Alton and Joe have a similar sense of nerdy humor. Joe will actually laugh out loud at Alton's jokes. I can do nothing but shake my head when this happens. Sigh.

So naturally, Joe insists on making everything that he sees on Alton's shows, and will not let up until the culinary magic happens. Luckily, most of Alton's recipes are home runs. In fact, the only one that did not work for me was not because it doesn't taste good....it was because I suck at baking. I attempted his angel food cake and there was nothing angelic about the final product.

So Alton had an episode called "Sandwich-craft" and one weekend we made all three sandwiches highlighted: the Cuban Sandwich, the Pan Bagnat, and the Roasted Vegetable Spread. All are absolutely delicious and our favorite of those three is the Roasted Vegetable Spread. It's very easy to make, low-fat, and tastes so gourmet.

ROASTED VEGETABLE SPREAD

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into rings
• 1 medium onion, sliced into rings (Vidalia, Walla Walla, Maui Sweet, or Red Onions are the best!)
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 ounces cream cheese (we use low-fat)
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• Challah, foccacia, pita, or herb bread for serving (my favorite is a rosemary herb bread)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the bell pepper, onion, garlic, zucchini, and oil in a bowl; toss until coated. Spread the vegetables evenly on a foil lined baking sheet and place in oven. Roast, tossing occasionally, for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Place the vegetables in a food processor with the cream cheese and process until spreadable, NOT until completely smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Spread on bread. Store in airtight container up to a week.