Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention…desperate times create desperate measures…or, truth be told, we were cold, hungry and a winter storm warning prevented us from going to gather any groceries.

So with a red pepper, an onion, and some carrots, we trolled our favorite sites to find something that would warm our tummies and that the junior belles wouldn’t turn their noses to. Well, we hit the lottery with this lovely Red Pepper Carrot Soup from Taste of Home.

We’ve tweaked it only a bit, but this tasty, easy soup was gobbled up by every belle we were huddled with. We will be making this many more times as we all know how hard it is to please every palate in our abodes.

Red Pepper Carrot Soup

Serves about 4 very “hangry” belles

You’ll need:
1 pound carrots, sliced
1 medium red pepper
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T uncooked long grain rice
2 T butter
1/3 cup of orange juice
2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 t sriracha
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. each dried marjoram, thyme, rosemary, crushed
1/2 t. rubbed sage
1/4 t. black pepper

What you need to do:

Broil red pepper 4 in. from heat until skin is blistered. With tongs, rotate pepper a quarter turn. Broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately place pepper in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Peel and discard the charred skin. Remove stem and seeds and set aside.

In a large saucepan, cook the carrots, onion, and rice in butter until onion is tender. Add broth, water, orange juice, sriracha, salt and dried herbs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until carrots and rice are tender. Cool for 10 minutes.

In a blender, purée carrot mixture and roasted pepper in small batches. Return to pan; heat through.

If you have a stick blender you can just add roasted pepper to pan and blend until smooth.

Easy, delicious, and good-for-you…a real belle-ringer!!

Bon appetit!!

a&a