thanksgiving meatless monday: roasted red pepper soup

Okay, so it’s not Monday.  But with out-of-town guests arriving yesterday, I just didn’t get a chance to post.  We’re busting at the seams already in the KC household and we haven’t even started eating! (it’s not difficult with a one-bedroom apartment and my sister, her husband and two dogs visiting for the week).  But that’s what I love about Thanksgiving!

I really missed it when we were in the Switzerland. Granted, we still ate our  turkey and cranberries and much of what we will eat later this week, but being abroad it just didn’t seem the same. The excitement over a long holiday weekend, seeing friends and family, getting agitated watching the news and hearing about this opt-out security thing. Ah, Thanksgiving.

This meatless monday is somewhat of a cheat as it’s a re-post of a previous recipe, but based on my addiction to WordPress stats,  it’s the recipe that recently beat out compost cookies (not an easy feat)–roasted red pepper soup.  Who knew that it’s so in demand?!

This isn’t a usual suspect at the Thanksgiving table, but has become such a crowd favorite that I couldn’t imagine Thanksgiving without it.   While I would never suggest changing up your own Thanksgiving tradition, I do recommend trying this soup some time–you just might find it sneaking its way into a holiday line-up.

Roasted red pepper soup
serves 8-10 people as a starter (with leftovers)

Ingredients

• 6 red bell peppers, roasted or two 13-ounce cans roasted sweet red peppers
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 cups chopped onions (2 medium onions generally does the trick for me)
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
• 2 tsp roasted red pepper flakes (half of this for a milder soup)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups canned tomatoes–do not drain (16 oz)
• 1 3/4 cp reduced-fat coconut milk (or whole fat, whatever)
• 2 cups water

Directions

1. If you’ve roasted fresh red peppers, set them aside in a tightly covered bowl to cool and then stem, seed, and peel them. If you’re using canned roasted red peppers, rinse them well in a colander and set aside to drain.
2. In a covered non-reactive pot, heat oil (I used a dutch oven for this) on medium-high heat.
3. Add onions, salt, pepper flakes, and garlic.  Sauté on medium heat for 15 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.
4. Remove the pot from heat and add canned tomatoes, red peppers, coconut milk, and water.
5. Mix together so ingredients are fully integrated.
6. In batches, add the soup to a blender to mix all together.  An immersion blender works beautifully here as well since you can just throw it right into the pot.  If you have a dish towel to spare and are using a standing blender, you may want to put the towel under the cover to prevent hot soup from spilling out the top.
7. Once mixed, your soup will go from a light pink to a bright red.
   
8. After blending, add soup back to pot and reheat low.  The longer you leave it on the flame stronger the spice.  For a holiday friendly approach, make this soup the night before serving and simply reheat in soup pot before serving.

Enjoy!