I love soup of almost every description, but one of my favorites is tomato or some variant thereof. For this New Year’s Eve dinner, I decided on a riff on the Double Red Soup, the recipe of which appears in the Kid Stuff chapter of the companion cookbook to our Low Carb CookwoRx PBS series.
The genesis of that recipe was my decades-old, stealth technique of getting our kids to eat vegetables they didn’t like by totally camouflaging them in things they did. (Way, way pre-Jerry Seinfeld’s wife’s recent smash hit cookbook.) Most kids love plain old tomato soup and done right, they’ll never notice the roasted red peppers blended in. The kid friendly recipe is very unspiced, since most kids don’t like spicy flavors. The version I made for our New Year’s Eve feast had a bit more punch to it and big dollop of a jarred roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade (from Trader Joe’s) in the center for color, contrast, and flavor.
Here’s the recipe:
Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup with Artichoke Tapenade
Serves 4
1 jar (12 ounces) roasted red peppers
1 can (about 15 ounces) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth with salt and spices
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 jar Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade (or your favorite prepared artichoke tapenade)
1. In the blender, combine all ingredients, except tapenade, and blend until smooth. You can do this as much as a couple of days ahead of time and store it, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator.
2. Before serving, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and keep warm.
3. Ladle into warm soup bowls, garnish with a healthy dollop of tapenade in the center, and serve.
The soup hit the spot as one stop in a multi-course journey, but it’s also just yummy, paired with a simple cheese and green chile quesadilla made with a low carb-tortilla on the kind of chilly, rainy day we’re having right now in (normally) sunny Santa Barbara.
Next up, the fish course.
I would love to see your low-carb adapted creme brulee recipe…my fav dessert!!
COMMENT from MD EADES: It’s coming up. Sorry for the delay, but I’ve just been covered up. Next up on the New Year’s hit parade is the main course, the Cornish hens, and then I’ll probably talk about the origins of Epoisses cheese and then on to the creme brulee.
Beautiful and so easy! I can’t wait to try it; thanks.