Roasted Red Pepper Soup

1-2 TBS olive oil or butter
About 1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1 red potato, or 1/2 of a russet potato, peeled and cut into large cubes
About 15 oz. of roasted red bell peppers, drained (not rinsed)
About 3 1/2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock (low sodium)
Pinch of sugar

Sautee the onion and carrot in olive oil or butter in a large pot over med-hi heat. After a few minutes when the veggies are soft, add the broth, potato, and peppers. Bring to a boil, then down to a fast simmer. Cover partially and simmer for 25 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender. Add a tsp or so of sugar. Pour soup into a blender (in batches if needed) and blend it up (or use an immersion blender if you have one). Pour back into the pot and serve!

This is a great meal because it is a creamy soup, but only because of the potato, not because you add cream! And you get lots of vitamin C from the peppers and onions, B6 from the peppers, and A from the carrots. Next time I think I might try not peeling the potato and seeing if it all blends together all right, because all the potato vitamins are in the peel!

Homemade croutons:
We made croutons by cubing up some regular bread (we used whole wheat here, before we have used french bread), and putting them into a non-stick pan with some hot olive oil. Heat over medium to med-hi heat until they get crispy (at least 5 minutes).