Enjoy this light, delicious summer soup from the White Lotus Kitchen. Once again Beatrix makes magic melt in your mouth and light up your senses. Perhaps your zucchini comes right out of your own backyard garden. Even better! Bon appétit.

Ingredients:

We recommend using organic ingredients whenever possible.

1-2 Tbs. good quality olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, sliced
3 zucchini, diced medium
1 roasted red bell pepper
2-3 Tbs. tofu sour cream (recipe in Beatrix's cookbook,The Art of Taste) or dairy cream
4 cups water
salt
black pepper
thyme--dried or fresh (optional)

Recipe:

Sauté onions in olive oil until golden. Add garlic, celery and zucchini and sauté for 5 minutes. Add 4 cups water and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft. While soup is simmering, roast the red peppers as per the instructions, below.

When the vegetables are soft, puree soup in a blender. Add tofu sour cream or regular cream, then the roasted bell peppers. Blend for another moment. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and if desired, add a little thyme. Pour soup back into pot. Add more water if desired and reheat soup, but do not boil.

How to roast bell peppers:

Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Roast skin side down over a flame on stove-top until black. Place pepper halves in a paper bag and refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Wash the blackened skin off bell pepper halves under cold water and they are ready to use.