Cream of Roasted Red Pepper Soup

One of the things I can do on the weekend to make the week less hectic, is to make a large pot of soup or casserole. I then save the left-overs for a weekday dinner and freeze the rest for later. We have been eating out of the freezer for the past week. One of things that came out was a red pepper soup that I made last fall. It was still good and the basil-spinach puree garnish, also frozen, I used on some fresh pasta that was sprinkled with cheese.

Cream of Roaster Red Pepper Soup with Basil-Spinach Puree from The Vegan Chef Click on over to The Vegan Chef to see the entire cream of red pepper soup recipe that I followed exactly.

At the time I had a freezer full of roasted peppers that we had picked up in New Mexico so I used those. I had no idea that they were super spicy so had to thin out the soup with more potatoes and ended up using it more as a dip for flat bread than as a soup. I recommend making a combination of 6 red bell peppers and 2 of the spicy New Mexico Chiles.

Basil-Spinach Puree:
This puree was pretty as a garnish but even better used as a sauce.
3 cups packed spinach leaves, triple washed, destemmed, and patted dry
1 1/2 cups packed basil leaves, washed well, and patted dry
3/4 cup packed parsley leaves, washed well, and patted dry
1/2 cup olive oil 3 T. water
1 1/2 T. nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
1 1/2 t. garlic, minced

In a blender or food processor, place all of the ingredients and puree until smooth. Thin with a bit of water, if needed.

photo credit: five x two by trAvelpig