Monday, January 9, 2012

Vegetable Soup with Roasted Red Peppers and a surprise visit from a Fairy

I know it's 10th of Jan'2012, we are already in the second week of 2012 but I believe it's not too late to wish my fellow bloggers 
"A Very Very Happy New Year......Hope 2012 brings lots of happiness around the world"
And to contribute a little to this happiness around the blogging world, I have something to share with you guys, I have been visited by Fairy Hobmother, Yes! U read it right Fairy Hobmother, of Appliances on line  was here last week to inform me that I won little prize in the form of Amazon gift card(Isn't it a good start to 2012)  and also told me that she loved my  Eggless Chocolate Banana Cake with Toffee Bits. Now coming to the happiness part, so, Fairy Hobmother told me that she's on the spree to spread some New year cheers among the bloggers. Now, those of you who would be interested in a visit from a Fairy and have a wish granted please leave a comment on this post with your wish for Fairy Hobmother. Sometime soon she will be visiting here to check the comments. what are U waiting for??? check the recipe for the soup below & go to the comment page and U never know......."Dreams do come true".


Now, for today's recipe I'm sure all of us have more than one version of vegetable soup. In my kitchen most of the time I make vegetable soup, it's always a new version, as it totally depends upon what kind of veggies do I have on hand & also how much time I want to spend. But no matter what, it always comes out tasting yummy. The soup I'm going to share right now is the mixture of 2 different kind of soups I make. And it was served with home made fresh Bread. Now for the recipe :

What I Used :
 6-8 large size garlic cloves (in case of small ones double the quantity)
 1 stalk/stem celery
 2 med. size carrots
 1 small beetroot (depending upon how much beet root U use, color of soup will change....from red to pink)
 1 small zucchini
 3 med. size tomatoes
 1 bay leaf
 3-4 cloves
 black pepper as per taste
 salt as per taste
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 cups of water/chicken stock/vegetable stock

veggies for roasting :
 2 medium size red bell pepper cut into half, seeds removed
 1 large onion cleaned, cut into quarters
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
pinch of salt

Note : roasting veggies is totally worth the effort, as it does give very good flavour to the soup.
What I did :
In a baking sheet arrange veggies from roasting category & sprinkle them with olive oil & salt. Use your hand to rub oil & salt onto them,arrange them in a single layer. In case of bell peppers keep the cut side down. Place it in a pre heated oven for around 25 minutes or so at around 400 degree F. In my case I usually use my toaster oven for this purpose, no pre heating required & also saving on electricity by not using the big oven.

While some of the veggies are roasting. Clean & wash rest of the veggies. Roughly chop them.

Take a large pot or pressure cook( that's what I use), heat it & add olive oil followed by bay leaf & cloves. After few seconds add chopped up garlic, all the veggies  & saute them for few minutes.

Add 4 cups of liquid, salt & black pepper. If using vegetable/chicken stock with sodium adjust the amount of salt or better don't add any extra salt.

Boil it covered till all the veggies get soft. In case of pressure cooker I put it on slow flame till one whistle & then turn the gas off. Once the steam is all gone open it.

Check for roasted veggies, once they are done put bell peppers in a bowl & cover them, let them sit for around 10 minutes. This process will make the peel loose off from the peppers. Once they are cool enough to handle just take the peel off & discard it.

Combine all the veggies (boiled & roasted ) fish out the bay leaf & discard it, once the veggies are cool enough puree them using a hand blender or food processor. Strain it for smooth texture or let it be like that for little rustic kind. Adjust the seasoning, add little butter and serve it with your favourite toasted bread or better, plan ahead and have fresh one ready.

Note : another version of this soup is by roasting all the veggies, specially if U r using big oven for roasting purpose.

Reminder : Do not forget to write your wish in the comment section.....Fairy's do exist.

12 comments:

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a super flavourful soup,i dont mind to have some rite now..Wish to get a some cookbooks from fairy..

sangeeta said...

Oh great...The fairy made you really happy :-)

Loving this soup. I make it without zucchini and some more tomatoes sometime. The color is so bright even when it has zucchini :)

Santosh Bangar said...

wow..healthy soup

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Very delicious and tempting soup. Wonderful recipe.

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a wonderful soup. It would be perfect to ward off the chill of this damp day. This is my first visit to your blog, so I took some time to browse through your earlier entries. I'm so glad I did that. I really like the food and recipes you share with your readers and I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

Rita said...

What a great healthy soup;right up my alley. Wishing you all the best for you and your family in 2012.
Rita

Nithu Bala said...

Really a great start of 2012 for you. Wish you many more good things to come your way this year:-)
Soup is so comforting for this weather..love the color of this healthy soup. Would be happy to see fairy in my space and would like to hear what dish she loves in my site:-)

Sumi said...

Delicious soup.. like it.

Alpana said...

Great going Hemi......Love this soup & the bread I know for sure is heavenly since I've had some of your breads . Hope the Fairy brings me some" Domestic Help " so I can have get-together's more often.

Rita said...

Made and loved your soup!
Rita

Spice said...

Thanks everyone, @ Sangeeta, beetroot did the trick as far color is concerned even after using zuchini. I too use extra tomatoes sometime depending upon how much I have on hand.

@ Mary, Thanks for stopping by & leaving some nice words.

Spice said...

@Rita, Thanks for the feedback dear, I'm glad U liked it.