Roasted Tomato (Red Pepper) and Basil Soup

Speaking of healthy, wait until you see the info on this soup.  And it's meatless so I can check off one meatless meal for the week!  And it was so delicious.  And (are you sick of the "and" business yet?) I threw it in the crockpot after preparing everything and it was still delicious.  Which was perfect because I don't always know exactly when Tyler is going to get home, so when he did, I could do a couple things and serve dinner.
 Not that he is the kind of husband who would demand dinner when he gets home, but it makes me feel like a good wife when dinner is ready when he comes.  I also feel that when we are trying to be better with our eating habits, it helps if we eat earlier rather than later.

I initially saw this soup on Becky's blog but it's originally from Food Network's Ina Garten.  I adapted the recipe in a few areas.  One was because the recipe called for 4 cups of fresh basil.  If I had a basil farm, or a cheap place to buy basil in bulk, I probably would have added 4 cups, but it was $3 for the fresh basil I bought and that only amounted to about 1 cup.  The soup was WAY good, don't get me wrong, but if I am going to spend $12 on basil, it won't be going into soup!  Does anyone have any awesome tips on buying fresh basil?  I substituted some dried with the fresh that I had.  I also threw in half a red bell pepper and half a yellow bell pepper to roast with the tomatoes.  After eating it, we all decided we would be making it again!  And that was even before I found out exactly how healthy it is!

There is some preparation including roasting the tomatoes for 40 minutes and sauteing the onions and garlic before all the components of the soup come together.  You end up pureeing it in the end (if you want), so you don't really have to worry about how well anything is chopped up, which is fun for a change.  We served it with Parmesan Cheese and Homemade Croutons, but I also think this would be delicious with garlic bread.  It would probably also be great with dollop of sour cream and one of the reviews I read said they added cream and it was delicious.  We are healthy right now though. :)

Roasted Tomato (Red Pepper) and Basil Soup

3 lbs ripe tomatoes, I used a mix of tomatoes on the vine and cherry tomatoes

1/2 red bell pepper, optional

1/2 yellow bell pepper, optional

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp pepper

2 cups yellow onions, sliced.

1 1/2 T minced garlic

1 T butter

dash to 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how much heat you like)

1 (28 oz) can plum tomatoes, with their juice

1 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 T dried basil

1 quart chicken broth or water (I used broth)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss tomatoes and bell peppers with 3 T olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread into one layer on a baking sheet     (I forgot to "toss" with salt and pepper so I had to sprinkle on top after the photo!)

and roast for 40-45 minutes.

In an 8 quart stockpot, heat remaining oil (1 T) and butter over med heat and saute onions, garlic and red pepper flakes for about 10 minutes or until onions become very tender and start to brown.  Add canned tomatoes.  Once roasted tomatoes are done, add to the stockpot with their juices and remaining ingredients. 

Either transfer to crockpot and cook 6-10 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high; or bring to boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.  Use whatever means you'd like to puree.  Blender and food processor in batches  (be careful to not close the blender or food processor completely because of how hot the soup will be.  I put a towel over the opening of mine.) or if you have an immersion blender (sadly I don't, I am adding that to the wish list!) that would work the best.  Taste and adjust for seasonings.  Serve hot or cold.  Serves 6-8

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These nutrition facts were provided by Caloriecount.com based on 6 servings of 2 cups of soup/serving.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 600 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 201 Calories from Fat 109

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 12.2g 19%

Saturated Fat 2.7g 13%

Cholesterol 5mg 2%

Sodium 1136mg 47%

Total Carbohydrates 21.9g 7%

Dietary Fiber 5.4g 22%

Sugars 14.2g

Protein 5.0g

Vitamin A 73% • Vitamin C 149% Calcium 7% • Iron 10%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in cholesterol
• High in dietary fiber
• High in potassium
• Very high in vitamin A
• High in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C

Bad points

• Very high in sodium
• High in sugar