Roasted red pepper and onion soup

The snow has started! Time to wrap up warm with a bowl of soup! Oh wait there is no need to wait for an excuse to eat soup...the ultimate comfort food and simply so healthy.

Soup conjures up magical feelings....wrapped up warm with chilly fingers clasped around a cup of steaming soup, tucked up in bed with a cold when all you feel like eating is a big bowl of soup, a pan of soup gently simmering no the stove ready to be devoured upon coming home after a walk across the hills.

Soup, soup, soup...and you cant get much better than this, a rich, red, flavourful roasted red pepper soup with roasted veg toppings to totally overwhelm you! I love these photos, they make me want to go and make another batch right away.

I made some polenta crackers to go with my soup, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that recipe :-)

Recipe: Roasted red pepper soup
Ingredients:

50g red lentils- ground
2 tbs olive or coconut oil
1 large onion- half chunky sliced and half finely diced
2 cloves garlic (or 1 tsp roast garlic powder)
1 tin of tomatoes
3 red peppers (half or 1 reserved)
400g veg stock
Salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

Method:

Halve and roast the peppers (reserve 1 half) until the pepper has blistered.

Meanwhile saute the diced onion and garlic for 5 minutes, and then add the peppers and all remaining ingredients to the pan and cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile sliced the remaining pepper half and roast the pepper and remaining onion slices for approx 8-10 minutes until golden.

Puree the soup mixture with a hand blender and serve with the extra pepper and onion slices on top.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Roasted chickpea 'croutons'

I had come across numerous recipes for roasted chickpeas but I’d never had a go myself until now.  The principle is so simple…..get your cooked chickpeas (I cook mine from dried in big batches and then freeze them until needed), add seasoning, roast until crisp and golden.

The perfect alternative to popcorn for a night in with a DVD, a handy snack alternative to roasted nuts or even sprinkled over a salad for a crispy bite offering a GF alternative to crispy bread croutons.   You can vary the seasonings as you wish. I went for an Indian theme for my first batch and then through in a few Italian spices and a little tomato paste for a lovely crunchy salad topper. I would really recommend the salad topper as a really quirky alternative to croutons as the texture is great!

The chickpeas will keep for a few days if stored in an airtight container so you’ll have plenty of snack options to hand. I haven’t yet tried freezing these but I imagine that would also work well.

The spice combinations below are just examples of what I went for so feel free to through in whatever you choose!

Recipe: Roasted chickpeas

Makes one bowl

Ingredients Indian:

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garam masala

¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sea salt

1 tbs ground flax or chia seeds
1 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 tbs red palm oil or olive oil

1 tsp agave nectar (optional)
200g cooked drained chickpeas

Ingredients Italian:

1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp mixed Italian herbs

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sea salt

1 tbs ground flax or chia seeds
1 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 tbs red palm oil or olive oil

1 tbs tomato puree
200g cooked drained chickpeas

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C. In a medium bowl all the ingredients and mix well adding the chickpeas last.

Place the seasoned chickpeas in a single layer on a greased or parchment lined baking shee. Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring once during cooking, until chickpeas are slightly crispy.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.