Carrot Red Pepper Soup

This was so easy to make I couldn't believe it! I got it from the PCRM Vegan Kickstart Menu. Just two modifications for our tastes and we were set!

Carrot and Red Pepper Soup
Makes 4 1 1/2-cup servings

1 onion, chopped
6 carrots, thinly sliced
2 cups water or vegetable stock
2 red bell peppers
2 cups soymilk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place onion and carrots into a pot with water or stock and simmer, covered, over medium heat until the carrots can be easily pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes.

Roast bell peppers by placing them over an open gas flame or directly under the broiler until the skin is completely blackened. Place in a bowl, cover, and let stand about 15 minutes. Slip the charred skin off with your fingers, then cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds.

Blend the carrot mixture along with the bell peppers in a blender or food processor in several small batches. Add some of the soymilk to each batch to facilitate blending. Return to the pot and add lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Heat until steamy.
Per 1 1/2-cup serving

Our modification was that we didn't add any milk and we decided to cut balsamic vinegar in half because we aren't huge vinegar fans. What we got was a thick wonderful soup that was great with a salad for two lunches for two people!

Hope you enjoy it too!

Veggies, Veggies, Veggies

Last night we had the best organic and gluten free meal. Of course I'm a little biased since I made it and now think it was delicious (grin). Anyway the hardest part was chopping veggies but after that it was so easy.

So I put in two potatoes to bake (350 degrees for about an hour) poke them with a fork after washing and stick them in the oven. Simple. They are done when the fork goes into them easily.

Then I set about chopping. Now this can be any veggie you would like to have but here is what I used.

1/2 onion (not a big onion person)
1/4 red pepper (expensive so I use sparingly)
1/4 yellow pepper (only have one until Tuesday so I'm stretching it)
1/4 green pepper (had to be even with the other peppers)
7 - 10 baby carrots (adding even more color)
1 zucchini
Optional tiny peppers (we got these at the farmers market and I don't know the name but the are potent)
1 clove garlic
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

All veggies (not garlic or oil) are washed then chopped into bite sized pieces. Put these on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and crush the garlic on top. Stir so that all pieces are coated with garlic and olive oil. Note: if you find the tiny peppers, cook them whole in the batch and only use like 6 - 10 peppers, they are spicy enough for the entire dish. My mouth was on fire for an hour after dinner but it was so good!

When the potatoes are done, pull them out and turn up the heat to 400 degrees. I like my veggies a little crisper so we only put them in for 15 minutes. You can do longer and I've also heard of others broiling them for the last 2 minutes (be careful not to burn here).

That's it, serve with the potato and you have a delicious, vegetarian, gluten free meal.

Bon Appetit

Fabulous Chicken

We made this fabulous chicken tonight. Come on, it was on sale for .88 cents/pound so we had to find something phenomenal to do with it. Here it is:

1 Whole Chicken 3 1/2 pounds
2 Tbls of Oil
2 White Onions (medium size)
1 Lemon
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 jalapeno peppers
1 can of GF chicken stock/broth

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Wash chicken, let drain
Quarter the onions and place on the bottom of a casserole pan
Rub the chicken with the oil, place on top of the onions
Quarter 1 lemon and place around the chicken
Press the garlic cloves on top of the chicken
Mince jalapenos, add to the mixture
Pour the chicken stock over the bird

Bake for 90 minutes basting every 30 minutes.

All I can tell you is that Robb came back for seconds on this chicken so it must be pretty good.

In The Mood for Dessert

So tonight we both had a little sweet tooth. There isn't much that is in the budget and dessert oriented for those with gluten allergies. However tonight I decided to try a recipe I just made up. It was delicious!!!

8 oz of frozen strawberries
1 tsp of gf vanilla
5 tsp of sugar
2 cups of 8th Generation Soy Milk (Gluten and Dairy free)

Mix all in the blender and wallah, frozen strawberry dessert. You can adjust the milk to the texture you desire.

It's definitely delicious and semi nutritious.

Bon Appetite!