Roasted Red Pepper Soup - Blended

So I got a fancy new toy last week, a fancy new blender! I've been wanting it forever, and have consumed my weight in samples from the Costco demonstrator for it. One of it's tricks is to make HOT soup, with cold ingredients, so here's one of the first soups I tried. I used this recipe (healthy-delicious.com) and this recipe (Vitamix, official) as inspiration.

I started with 6 red bell peppers. Wash thoroughly and slice in half. I roasted these for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

I don't know about your family, but I sneak vegetables into dinner. Whatever is left over in your fridge, chop them up! I used a small wedge of cabbage, a medium onion, and 3.5 carrots.

 

Heat oil in a pan (in my case, a wok) and saute the vegetables until they're golden and tender starting with the thicker vegetables first (carrots) and adding the others in throughout. I then added 2 scoops of minced garlic for good measure and let them cook a few minutes longer.

(Sorry, I'm technology inclined, and I can't figure out how to get this photo to rotate!)

I used some shredded cheese I had and spread it on a silicone baking sheet. Two of the piles are dairy & soy-free Daiya cheese, because my toddler daughter has MPI and my son (who is breastfed) has MSPI and we cannot have cow's milk/cheese.

Then add to the oven with the roasting peppers for about 15 minutes (don't worry, my oven is not always that clean, this is a fluke). Watch the cheese carefully, it will bubble, and the oil will come out, and you want to pull it out right as it starts to turn brown.

Layer all the cooked ingredients, minus the cheese, some chicken broth (I used two pint glasses of water and a scoop of chicken bouillon powder), salt, and pepper. I also added a couple scoops of chia seeds, because they are SO GOOD for you. (Do you know all the benefits of chia seeds?) BLEND! Here is the Before and After.

Add a scoop of heavy cream (I scooped from a can of refrigerated coconut cream), add some parsley to make it pretty, put cheese crisps on top, and serve with a sandwich. Instant yum.

Summary of ingredients:

Roasted bell peppers

Randomly sautteed vegetables (cabbage, carrots, onion)

Minced garlic

Chicken broth (or use Vegetable broth, for vegan)

Salt and pepper
Chia seeds

Shredded cheese
Cream

Parsley (for decoration)

This soup was super easy, delicious, and I'm happy with how I was able to turn it into a beautiful presentation with practical garnish! Let me know if you try it out, and what kind of variations you do!

I don't have a niche

I'm starting a blog, and I'm going to keep up with it.

They say if you want to write a blog that people actually read, you need a niche- and there's my problem. I'm really not extreme in any one which way or another, which seems to be what most other bloggers have..I always feel so inadequate when reading these susie-homemaker blogs, so here's my niche-- I'm going to be more relatable. Here's what I will write about:

• I like to cook, but I'm too lazy to buy all the ingredients, do lots of subbing, and I hate measuring cups
• I want to eat healthy and clean and really try, but damn, organic is expensive and fastfood tastes too good
• I am a "crunchy" person, but I still shop for convenience and don't make everything myself
• I practice attachment parenting, but I work outside of the home, so I have to enforce some schedules
• I have lots of hobbies, but I don't excel at any of them, and frankly don't have much time
• I am Chinese-American, which means I have to pick and choose my traditions
• I enjoy deal-shopping, but impulse buying is fun!

Does this work as a niche? You tell me.

(p.s. Did you know "relatable" is not a word? I'm getting a red squiggle)