Day 175: Easy Sweet Pepper Soup ♥

Since the weekend, the frig has been home to an overflowing bag of sweet peppers purchased for a quarter apiece at Soulard, St. Louis' year-round farmers market.

Yes: you read right. A quarter a pepper. The supermarket price is $1.50 a pepper, six times higher.

So the Simple Summer Harvest Soup over at Farmgirl Fare caught my attention again.

Thanks to what was on hand, however, Farmgirl's soup and mine are a bit different:

• Hers was a 50:50 mix of sweet pepper and summer squash, mine 75:25 sweet pepper and zucchini.
• She recommends homemade chicken stock and I do too. But with none in the freezer, I used a pantry staple, the 48-ounce can of Swanson's 100% Fat Free Natural Goodness. It's not comparable but certainly 'good enough'.
• Farmgirl says this soup's flavor melds after resting a day. I was in a rush serving-wise, so spiked the flavor with 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce - making for heat that not everyone would appreciate but was easily cooled down with a dollop of cottage cheese or a few crunchy croutons.
  

This is as good cold as hot, perfect for these in-between-season days when tomorrow's temperature is an unknown.

If you love simple soups, add this one to the Make Soon list. You might also try Quick Broccoli Soup or Quick Cauliflower Soup or a chunky favorite, Early Autumn Leaves in Soup.

EASY SWEET PEPPER SOUP
Hands-on time: 10 minutes up front, 5 to finish
Time to table: 30 minutes
Makes 8 cups

48 ounces chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil (Farmgirl uses 2 - 3)
1 pound onion, chopped
1 pound sweet peppers, chopped (or today, 1 1/2 pounds)
1 pound summer squash, chopped (or today, 1/2 pound zucchini)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 - 2 tablespoons adobo sauce, optional

Heat the broth in the microwave until it begins to boil. (If you're not in a hurry, you can skip this step.)

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the oil and once it's hot, add the onion, peppers and squash as they're prepped, stirring well each time to distribute the oil and the heat. Add the hot broth, cover and bring to a boil. Let boil hard until the vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Puree in a blender or with an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 73 Cal (22% from Fat, 19% from Protein, 58% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 2 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 12 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; 25 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 413 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 1 point