Skip taco Tuesday and head on into soupy Sunday with this fiesta inspired Vegetarian Roasted Poblano and Tomato Soup. It’s just enough spicy, just enough creamy, and just enough cozy!
ME BEFORE THE RECIPE…
I have an issue with weird colored food. It’s weird to me. Is that weird??? WEIRD!!!
Okay, I’ll use a more extensive vocabulary now. I should at least pretend like I learned something valuable in college besides how to pass classes without actually attending class. Wait, did I just say that???
In all seriousness, I wish I could redo college and actually absorb the information that my professors had to offer instead of sleeping through (or during) classes and procrastinating studying until the day of an exam. I feel like I would be a more well rounded individual if that were the case. Oh well, you live and you learn…or don’t learn for this matter. Maybe eventually I’ll go back for a more useful degree…just maybe.
But the weird colored food. Let’s talk about that for a moment. I’m one to argue that you eat with your eyes first. Who’s with me? A friend of mine challenged me that you eat with your nose first; that the smell of food is the first thing that is appealing to the taste buds. But I don’t know. I still think that what you see is more powerful than what you smell.
One of my favorite things to see while I’m eating (or about to eat) is a plateful of vibrant colorful food. It’s the whole “eat the rainbow” mentality. I truly believe that the amount of colors on your plate equates to the amount of nutrients entering your body. The more variety of colors, the better!
Unless we’re speaking about Lucky Charms, that is…or any other artificially colored food. That’s where I get weirded out. I mean, I’m a mint fan all the way, but my mint ice cream and mint brownies don’t have to be the color of neon green slime to convince me that they’re minty. Can’t we just stick with some clear mint extract and call it good?
One year I thought I’d be that “fun mom” for St. Patrick’s Day and turn our milk green with food coloring. All I can say is that 1/2 gallon of imitation, pastel green colored milk sat in our fridge until it spoiled because I couldn’t bear to drink any of it. Gag me. There’s something inherently wrong about drinking green milk.
Additionally, I have to literally close my eyes and inwardly chant calming mantras to myself when we’re at birthday parties and my girls are eating the brightly beaming frosting on top of the store bought cupcakes. You know, the bakery frosting that leaves your kids’ mouths and teeth stained for like a year??? Yeah, that one.
So you can imagine my feelings when Emry came home ecstatic, flyer in hand, about her upcoming Dr. Seuss Day in which the cafeteria would be offering green eggs and ham for lunch. Let me preface this situation with the fact that my kids have NEVER eaten school lunch. I’ve literally made them lunch every single day of school since Braelyn started kindergarten. I can’t even bear the thought of my kids eating regular school cafeteria lunch and now you want me to feed my kid GREEN eggs and ham???! No thank you.
But there is something about a certain five year old’s big chocolaty, puppy dog eyes that gets me to say “yes” to most things. And this lunch request was no different. I begrudgingly signed the lunch permission slip, stuck $2.60 in her backpack, and immediately tried to erase the haunting vision of green eggs and SPAM looking ham from my mind.
Side note: I don’t think she’ll even actually eat the lunch. She prefers runny fried eggs over scrambled, and even her scrambled eggs have to be soft. You know cafeteria scrambled eggs are always super rubbery and never seasoned well. Plus, she’s gonna take one bite of that ham and gag. But she insisted, so I’m letting her suffer the consequences with this one.
HERE COMES THE RECIPE…
Anyway, I’m thinking that after her artificially colored cafeteria grub that day, we may need a little healthy detoxing with some naturally colorful food. What do you think?! I’m thinking this Vegetarian Roasted Poblano and Tomato Soup will do just fine.
Just look at those colors! You have that burnt orange colored velvety soup, topped with freshly shredded white and yellow colby jack cheese, bright red tomatoes, and gorgeous green cilantro. All the colors I could ask for!
And beside all the colors you can see, hidden in that soup is all kinds of peppers, onion, corn, and potatoes. It’s a hearty soup indeed. Hearty and healthy.
Not only did I roast the peppers, onion, and tomatoes before blending them into the soup for added flavor, but I left them in the oven until they slightly charred to give them an even bolder taste. It was a good choice on my part. I promise.
Although this soup takes a little over an hour to make (roasting and simmering time), it’s pretty hands off and extremely easy to make. You basically roast, blend, and simmer. Simple as that.
Of course, I have to go the extra mile and add all the fancy toppings, but they’re just too yummy to skimp on. I’m all about texture, flavor, and variety in my soups, so the mix-ins are a must. There’s something about the mixture of cooked veggies in a warm creamy sauce against a variation of melty cheese, cool sour cream, smooth avocados, and crunchy tortilla chips that has my mouth singing praises.
Get creative with your mix-ins though. Just as a rule of thumb, you always want something creamy and something with a crunch to pair with your soups. Creamy could be a scoop of sour cream, a few crumbles of soft cheese (like goat cheese), diced avocado, a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (excellent with curries), or a crema of sorts. And crispy can be anything from dry roasted chickpeas to homemade gluten free croutons. I’m also not opposed to pairing your soup with a dunking vessel. Think gluten free olive oil pita bread, cornbread, or buttermilk biscuits. So much to choose from.
Okay, that was a tangent. Back to THIS soup: roasted poblano soup. Let’s ponder on this flavor for a brief moment. The roasted poblanos bring a nice smokiness to the flavor of the soup with a hint of spice. Poblanos are by no means a “spicy pepper” but they do have a little bite. But for actual spice, that’s where the jalapeno comes in. I remove all the seeds before blending because I’m not too keen on wiping tears from my children’s faces during dinner time, but you can go ultra spicy to super mild depending on the amount of seeds you add to the blender.
As for the rest of the veggies (bell peppers, onion, potatoes, and corn), they give this soup a subtle earthy, slightly sweet flavor, especially if you add sweet corn and a sweet onion…and c’mon, aren’t those the best kind anyway?!
Last of all, let’s focus on this cup of cream. I know what you’re thinking…“Oh my goodness, that makes it unhealthy!” No, no it doesn’t. First of all, this soup serves 6-8, so the amount of cream you will actually be eating is very minimal. Plus, everything else in this soup is low-fat and extremely fresh, so why not add a little cream to intensify the flavor and add a superior texture. Absolutely NO guilt here. Only love.
And by the way, cream is FRESH anyway. Remember, healthy doesn’t necessarily mean low in calories. In fact, it rarely means that. Healthy is more about fresh, minimally processed ingredients, and cream fits that description perfectly. Okay, I’m off my soap box now.
So again, save the tacos for next Tuesday and veg out with this Vegetarian Roasted Poblano and Tomato Soup tonight. Or heck, fry up a tortilla to eat alongside this soup and you can still feel like you ate a taco, right?!
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY…
- Vegetarian Sweet Green Pepper Chili
- Gluten Free White Bean Chicken Chili
- Gluten Free Roasted Poblano Creamy Corn Chowder
- Gluten Free Crock Pot Vegetarian Taco Soup
- Gluten Free Creamy Potato and Veggie Chowder
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 2 poblano peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 orange bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 small jalapeno
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 1¼ teaspoons salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon pepper, divided
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 quart (4 cups) chicken or veggie stock*
- ¼-1/2 bunch cilantro, depending on preference
- juice of 1 lime (about 1 tablespoon)
- 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced, (or 3 cans diced potatoes, drained)
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup heavy cream (optional, but recommended)*
- toppings such as: diced tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded cheese, etc.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a large sheet pan, arrange roughly chopped pieces (big chunks) of onion, poblanos, green bell, and orange bell peppers. Add garlic cloves, roma tomatoes and jalapeno. Drizzle with olive oil and season with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Toss to coat and roast for 35-40 minutes until tender and charred.
- Let veggies cool slightly. Gently remove stem and seeds from jalapeno (you can keep some seeds if you want a spicy soup). Add all veggies and half the chicken or veggie stock to blender. Add cilatnro and lime juice. Puree until smooth.
- Pour into a large pot. Add remaining stock, salt, pepper, cumin, and potatoes. Stir and bring to a boil over slightly higher than medium heat. Cover and reduce to a low simmer for 30 minutes until potatoes are tender. If using canned potatoes, you do not need to simmer because they are already cooked through.**
- Uncover and stir in corn and heavy cream or additional chicken or veggie stock to reach desired consistency. Season to taste.
- Serve soup warm with desired toppings. Store leftover soup in an airtight container in fridge for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 3 months.
**If using canned potatoes, just heat the soup through and then move onto adding the corn and heavy cream.
