Bell[e of the Ball] Pepper Soup

A note by the author suggested one serve this soup alongside the Whole Wheat Penne with Cabbage and Cumin. Done and done. My husband enjoyed the soup even more than the main dish, which--since it was fabulous, means this was even more so. Mmmmm.

Bell Pepper Soupfrom Diana Shaw's Almost Vegetarian

• 1 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 large red pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and sliced
• 1 large yellow pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and sliced
• 1 small round red or white potato (1/4 lb), peeled and sliced
• 3 cups vegetable broth, homemade or canned

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrot, and celery, turn the heat down to medium and saute until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the bell peppers and potato, and stir to coat with the other vegetables. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, cover, and lower heat to medium-low. Simmer until the potato falls apart when you pierce it with a knife, about 8 minutes. Puree the soup (using a stick blender in the pot or by transferring the soup to a food processor). Serve hot.

I used four peppers instead of just the two that were called for (why not?) which gave this soup a very peppery taste. I'm not usually a "blend everything together" soup fan, but in this case it was fantastic.