Although the past few days have cooled down in Vancouver, the days prior to that were hot hot HOT! The rise in temperature means trying to find easy recipes that won’t warm the house and keep you nice and cool. This ridiculously easy soup does just that! I wanted something that was dip-worthy to fix my grilled cheese craving + soup and I can say, this soup is defs dip-able. The sweetness of the bell pepper with the earthiness of the beets make the chilled soup perfect for a hot day. It also adds a decent number of vegetable servings to your day with the amount of beets and bell peppers packed into the meal. It stores really well in the fridge and can be served hot or cold! The good thing about this recipe: the ingredient quantities DON’T need to be perfect. Mess around with the proportions of beets:bell peppers based on your preference!

Ingredients:

• 15 mL olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• Approx 6 small beets, peeled, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 4 medium sized red bell peppers, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 1 tetra vegetable broth (900-1000 mL tetra)
• Salt/pepper to taste
• Optional: Sour cream or goat cheese as garnish

What to do: 

• Heat a large pot on medium heat. Add oil. Once heated, add onions. Cook until translucent.
• Add beets and bell peppers. Cook until warmed through. If you have time, cook for additional 15 minutes on medium-high heat to caramelize and add colour to vegetables.
• Add broth and salt/pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer, covering the pot with a lid. Cook for 45 minutes or until beets are cooked/softened (fork-tender is a good way to test this – if your fork pokes into the beet with minimal resistance, it’s done!) If you like a soup with a thinner consistency, add 125-250 mL water.
• Once vegetables are cooked, turn off heat and cool for approx 30 minutes with lid open. Transfer soup to a blender and puree.
• Portion into bowls. Top with sour cream/goat cheese (optional).
• NOM!

Tips/Tricks:

• This is a great Sunday-before-work type recipe to batch cook and portion for the rest of the week. Invest about an hour to make this and have meals for the rest of the work week!
• Got some extra time and your BBQ is on? Roast the bell peppers directly onto the grill and cook the beets by wrapping in aluminium foil and placing onto the grill. Then, remove skin off the bell peppers like this and remove skin from beets once cooled. This extra step will add some crazy amount of flavour to your soup.
• Like it spicy? Add some chilli flakes or fresh chilli to the soup for a bit of a kick.