Yesterday I went on a rampage and cleaned out my refrigerator. I’m ashamed to admit what a digusting state it had gotten to be in. I have been lazy for the past few weeks. I haven’t made a menu plan before I went shopping and I haven’t cooked like I normally do. I went back to relying on pasta as a quick meal and I gained 5 pounds. So I purged the fridge of produce I bought but never got around to using and old cans and boxes of food. I sat down with two cookbooks and made a plan for healthy eating.

This morning I went grocery shopping. I love grocery shopping. I’m not sure why but I can happily spend hours wandering down the aisles. My cart was so heavy that I started to have problems pushing it around.

I came home and made a simple but very tasty Red Pepper and Tomato Soup. It is from the book Cookshelf Vegetarian. I found this in a discount rack at Michael’s craft store. I can’t find it on Amazon or I’d have a link because it’s a great book.

  • Slice one red bell pepper and remove the seeds. Combine in a saucepan with 1 sliced onion, 2 sliced garlic cloves, 1 sliced green chili pepper (whatever hotness you like), 2.5 cups of vegetable stock, and 1.5 cups of tomato puree. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Strain the soup, reserving the liquid. Use a food processor to puree the vegetables and then combine with the liquid in a saucepan. Add basil to taste and heat through.

    • This tastes like tomato soup with a bit of extra kick. I used a very mild chili. I think if I made it again I’d up the heat a bit. I ate it with a sandwhich for a great lunch. You could also eat it cold with yogurt swirled into it.