B is For Bell Peppers

A few weeks ago I purchased a popular cookbook at my Weight Watchers meeting called Fruits & Vegetables A-Z. 

I have really been enjoying the simple and delicious recipes in it.

I love sweet bell peppers of all colors. I am always on the lookout for them and stock up whenever they are a good price.  Peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week, or diced and seeded and stored frozen for up to 3 months.

They can be eaten raw, or roasted, or grilled, or even stir-fried.  Peppers become sweeter tasting with roasting.

This simple soup is one of the recipes that Weight Watchers offers in the book and we tried it for lunch recently.  It was wonderful!  The original recipe in the book is for a single serving, which would easily become 2 if used as an appetizer course.

I doubled the recipe for our lunch, and used a dash of dried basil as I had no fresh on hand.  Without giving all of the details away....

Red Pepper Soup

Makes 1 serving

Weight Watchers P+ = 3

Chop the small red bell peppers and saute in  olive oil in a small nonstick saucepan until tender.  Add  low-sodium fat-free chicken broth and some canned diced tomatoes. 

Puree in food processor.  Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.

For 2 servings, I used 2 large red peppers.

You can cut them into fairly large chunks.

Saute in olive oil until soft, about 15 miniutes.

I like to serve veggie soups with a bit of sour cream or yogurt on top.

This soup makes up very quickly and is quite lovely... not quite as much flavor as a roasted red pepper soup, but a good substitute when you are pressed for time. 

I used my immersion blender in the saucepan, setting it in the sink in case I made a mess!  But it turned out all right... only a few small splatters to clean up.  Well worth it.

A few other great recipes that I have posted using bell peppers...

Fresh Homemade Salsa

Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Potato Soup

Roasted Red Peppers.... and a Soup Recipe

What is your favorite way to eat and enjoy bell peppers... would love to hear from you.