Okay, I know what you are thinking, beet root and coconut milk? Sounds weird, right? And dill and coconut milk? What the heck is she thinking??
But this is a surprisingly great combination in this soup that's perfect for fall. By adding coconut milk you get the creaminess while being vegan and healthy. And the colour is amazing! Just don't get it on your shirt like I did.
If you're having a hard time finding roasted red peppers in a jar, most Mediterranean or Middle Eastern markets will carry them, otherwise you can just char grill a few extra before you roast the other peppers, garlic, onion and beet root.
To char your red peppers in your own oven, use the broil setting and the pan on the top rack. Keep an eye on them as you want them blackened but not on fire.
And a word about coconut milk-do yourself a favour and buy full fat coconut milk with only coconut and water as the ingredients. If you do some ingredient reading you'll find that a lot of coconut milk has guar gum or other thickeners or preservatives added and you really don't need anything added. If you buy low fat coconut milk, you'll find that usually there is some kind of thickener added to make it more palatable and, well, thicker.
Vegan Roasted Red Pepper, Beet Root and Coconut Soup with Dill
2-3 large uncooked red peppers, chopped in big chunks, seeds and stem removed
½ purple onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
3 medium sized beets, chopped
2 roasted red peppers in the jar, chopped roughly
3 cups vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
3 tbsp chopped dill
ground pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to 375F. On a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, toss uncooked red peppers, onion, garlic and beets with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in oven until softened.
You may find that your peppers become quite soft before your beets do, so feel free to remove them and let your beets cook longer, but it's really not a bit deal. Remove from oven and set aside.
While your veg is roasting, bring 3 cups of vegetarian broth to the boil on medium high heat in a large pot, turn down the heat and add 2 roasted red peppers from the jar, chopped roughly. Why two different types of peppers you ask? The smokey charred taste of the jarred red peppers really adds something to this soup, trust me.
And if you don't know what to do with the rest of these sucker, throw em in a baguette with marinated artichokes and whatever else you like and you won't regret it. For reals.
When your veg is finished and your beets are quite soft, add everything on the cookie sheet to the pot, let cool slightly and blend until smooth with an immersion blender or very carefully with your blender, being careful not to overfill and letting out steam frequently.
Do not, I repeat, do not put boiling hot liquid in a blender!!
After everything is nice and smooth, add one can of coconut milk and bring the heat back up slowly on low heat and add fresh chopped dill. Heat for 5 minutes, add pepper to taste and serve.
MMmmmmmmMMmmmmmm.......