Carrot and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
By: Jennifer Manriquez
Published: Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 2:06pm

Ingredients




5 large carrots, grated or sliced thin
1 large onion, grated or finely diced
4 cloves garlic (to taste), minced
2 large red bell peppers
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 cups unsweetened soymilk or 2%% dairy milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons all-purpose seasoning (I used Simply Organic)
Salt and pepper, to taste
of cayenne (optional)
Dollop of vegan or low-fat dairy sour cream for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1 In a large pot, combine carrots, onion, garlic, and broth. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until veggies are soft, about 15 or 20 minutes. 2 While your base is simmering, roast the red peppers. If you have a gas range, I highly recommend roasting them directly over the open flame, using metal tongs to gently turn as needed. I place my peppers right on the stovetop, over a medium-high flame, and let them roast until the skin is almost completely blackened. If you don't have a gas range, you can roast them under the broiler. Take them out when skin is black. When they're nicely roasted and soft if you poke at 'em, place them in a bowl and cover for about 15 minutes. Then gently peel the blackened skin off, cut them in half and remove the stem and seeds. After that you can chop 3 If you have a hand blender, I suggest you blend your base up right in the pot. If you don't, you can blend the soup in a regular blender, but you'll have to do it in batches. You can add a little of the milk to each batch if it's too thick to blend. 4 Add remaining ingredients to pot (except sour cream) and stir until well-mixed. Then cover and simmer for 15 or 20 minutes, until spices have had time to nicely flavor the soup. Keep tasting, and add more of your favorite spices as desired. 5 Top with a dollop of sour cream, and enjoy!

About


I love red bell peppers, but they generally run at a cost of about $2.99 each, which I cannot afford. Three bucks for one pepper?! Nuh-uh.
But I was shopping at Kroger a few days ago and found a pack of nine gorgeous bell peppers (six red and three yellow) for only $3.99. Yippee!
So, here's a great soup I threw together from an abundance of carrots (it's the cheapest organic vegetable I can buy locally, so I use it as a base in a lot of my cooking) and my beautiful, affordable bell peppers. Give it a try!