Roasted red pepper and tomato soup

If you couldn't tell by now, I love soup. I know it's beginning to get warmer out but I always think that soup is a great option for lunch or paired with something else like a quesadilla or grilled cheese. I was watching The Kitchen a few weeks ago on Food Network, and I saw Sunny Anderson make a roasted tomato soup by cooking tomatoes and then blending them and I KNEW this was something I had to try out on my own.

And I'm so glad I did. I often stick with a tomato base, so my goal was for this to be a bit more red pepper forward, and I was so happy with the result. Not only was it fun to go from roasting your ingredients to blending everything together to create a delicious soup, but it added such a depth of flavor. I'm excited to add this into my soup rotation!

I also love that this is an easy vegan option, though as you know already...I firmly believe that most if not all soup is best when topped with cheese, and this one is no different.

I used small heirloom tomatoes and red peppers, but know that you can play around with this as well on your own when creating your soup! You can see below that there are no fancy knife skills needed for this recipe. You can cut your vegetables in to large chunks because in the end, everything will be blended together!

Ingredients:

• Olive oil (about 4-6 tablespoons)

• 1 medium shallot

• 1 small yellow onion (or an additional shallot)

• 3 red bell peppers

• 48 oz baby heirloom tomatoes

• 2 tsp minced garlic (I use jarred garlic!)

• 4 cups vegetable broth

• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking time: About an hour and a half including prep and roast time.

Cooking instructions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Line two large pans (or if you have one VERY large pan that would work) with tinfoil and spread about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on your pan.

Prep your vegetables. Peel and cut your shallot and onion into long pieces, no dicing these can be very rough cuts. Separate out some of the layers and scatter both onto your pan or pans. Cut your red bell peppers into long pieces and slice your tomatoes in half. Scatter all of your pepper and tomatoes on top of your onion and shallot. Drizzle additional olive oil on top, about two tablespoons, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast your vegetables in the oven for about 40 minutes. 20 minutes through, remove your pan from the oven and give your vegetables a mix to ensure nothing burns (it's okay if some pieces get charred though, it will add to the flavor!). Remove your vegetables at the end of the 40 minutes from your oven.

Meanwhile, in a large pot on high heat add your minced garlic and pour in your roasted vegetables along with any juice from the pan (it is a mixture of olive oil and juices from your veggies that you don't want to miss!). Stir to combine, and then pour in your vegetable broth. At this point you can add some additional salt and pepper, then bring your mixture to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer and cover to cook for about 20-30 minutes. Remove your soup from the heat and you can use an immersion blender to blend your soup until it's smooth, or you can use a blender if you have one. I used an immersion blender, and found that my soup became smooth very quickly!

You can serve immediately, or allow to cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to enjoy! The soup will remain fresh in the fridge for at least 5-7 days.

Carb and serving info:

Servings: 4 (about 2 cups each)

Carbs per serving: 28.1 carbs

Carbs per full batch: 112.5

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.