Grain Crazy: Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Recipe Redux has been around for 42 months! We've been grateful to be a part of it, even if we haven't been with them 42 months. This group is a great collection of bloggers that all are trying to make healthy eating a consistent part of their diets. In honor of 42 months, we were challenged to look in our cook books and find a recipe on page 42 or 142 and adapt it to be healthier.

I ended up with a cookbook that I haven't used for a long time. I really like the recipes and pictures in it. So I was glad I had this challenge. It made me realize I needed to use it more. It is called the Ultimate Low Fat. I changed the "Red Bell Pepper Soup" recipe around a little bit. One of the things I did was roast the red peppers to add more flavor and browned the vegetables. I also made some other changes, such as loading it with vegetables. The end result was a satisfying, healthy bowl of soup. I liked the different dimensions of flavor. My family enjoyed it too. Great for this time of year. Happy holidays!

Ingredients

12 oz of fresh red pepper, seeds removed

3 T olive oil

1 1/2 whole onions, sliced

5 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies

2 1/4 C tomatoes, pureed

3 3/4 water

2 tsp salt * (more if desired)

2 tsp thyme

1 tsp basil

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

basil leaves for garnish

Directions

1. Place red pepper on a cookie sheet face down. Put in oven heated to broil. Let broil until the outside gets charred. Watch closely so it doesn't cook too long. Take out of the oven, place it in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then peel off charred skin and chop up.

2. Heat up oil in large pot. Place onions and garlic in pan and stir around and let cook for a few minutes.

3. Stir in the red pepper and green chilies and continue to cook and let the vegetables start to turn a light golden color.

4. Stir in the tomatoes (I did whole tomatoes and blended in the blender a couple times until smooth) and water. Then add, salt, thyme, basil and crushed pepper. Let the mixture come to a low boil.

5. Turn down the heat and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

6. Pour into blender and pulse a couple times. Serve warm. Garnish with basil leaves