Roasted Red Pepper Soup

January 5, 2012

This cold-weather meal is easy on the love handles! Roasted Red Pepper Soup offers big flavor without busting your newly-made resolution.

Let me guess… You are going to be nicer to your neighbor, spend more time with your kids, take a class at your local community college, and lose 10 pounds this year. Did I get it right??? I bet I’m close.

We all tend to add a healthy objective to our list of new year’s resolutions. After two months of gorging ourselves on oven-baked dishes smothered in gravy, boxes of Christmas cookies, and hefty cheese platters, it’s time for a clean sweep.

Red Pepper Soup

A good veggie soup is a great thing to add to your new healthy routine. Soup can fill you up, while making your meals substantially lighter in calories, fat and carbohydrates.

Roasted red Peppers

This roasted red pepper soup is gluten free, dairy free, low carb, low calorie and oh so delightful. The vibrant sweet and tangy flavor of freshly roasted red peppers, combined with roasted garlic, herbs and a kick of spice make it extremely satisfying. Plus, it’s a great leftover to take to work for lunch. You’ll have jealous co-workers eagerly peeping over your cubical when they smell your creamy roasted red pepper soup. You may need to make a double batch!

Red Peppers Roasted

This particular Red Pepper Soup is one of my hubby’s favorite dishes. He has asked me to make it time and time again. It always amazes me that a steak-sandwich-kind-of-guy could crave gluten free, meat free soup the way he does!

Red Pepper Soup Recipe

I’ll be sharing my red pepper soup on the Udi’s Gluten Free Community Page. If you made a gluten free resolution this year, make sure to check out the Udi’s Community for great recipes and help along the way. I’m learning about the gluten free lifestyle, and the people involved in the community are an amazing wealth of knowledge. Be sure to check it out.

Roasted red Pepper Soup Recipe Home Elements serving pieces from Villeroy & Boch.

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Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

3 lbs. red bell peppers, halved and cleaned (8-10)
5 cloves garlic, in peel
2 cups chopped onion
2 Tb. olive oil
2 large sprigs fresh thyme (1 Tb. leaves)
2 bay leaves
4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
1 tsp. hot sauce
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground pepper
1-2 Tb. rice vinegar

Directions:

Half the peppers and remove all seeds and membranes. Press them flat with your hand and lay them on a foil lined, rimmed baking sheet. Place the garlic cloves on the baking sheet.

Set the oven on broil and raise the rack to the upper position. Broil the red peppers and garlic for 15 minutes.

Once the skin has blackened, remove from the oven and place in a large zip bag to steam. (10 minutes)

Preheat a large pot to medium heat. Add the oil, thyme, bay leaves, and onions. Cook for 10 minutes, until onions are soft.

Add the broth, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the peels into the pot.

Then peel the charred skin off each pepper half and place it in the pot.

Reduce the heat, cover and cook another 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Then, using a hand-held immersion blender or standard blender, blend until smooth. *If using a blender, BE SURE TO remove the plug on the lid and cover with a kitchen towel—this with allow the heat to vent without a big mess!

Add the vinegar and salt again if needed.

Serve with extra thyme leaves. (In the photos I thinned out a little plain Greek yogurt with milk to make a fancy swirl on top. Pretty, but not necessary.)

More Healthy Gluten Free Recipes:

Light and Creamy Asparagus Soup

Grapefruit Basil Sorbet

Chinese Hot Pots

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf ~ Jeanette’s Healthy Living

Polynesian Kebabs ~ Simply Gluten Free

Linguine with Shrimp and Slow Roasted Tomatoes ~ Gluten Free Girl