RED PEPPER SOUP

I had been looking at Martha's Meatless book, had a large jar of roasted red peppers in my cupboard, as well as a ripe avocado and quinoa on hand. I made this Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Quinoa Salsa for the first time hot, and took it to work, and I skipped the red onion for everyone else's sake. It was still good, but I found it a little thin. Still, with the garnish, and a generous dollop of quinoa, it was a good lunch.

When I had the girls over for tea, I decided to serve it cold and in small verrines. I still omitted the red onion, and it was very popular.

CHILLED ROASTED RED PEPPER SOUP WITH QUINOA
Meatless Cookbook
Serves: 4 (doubles) servings

INGREDIENTS
1 yellow onion (chopped)
2 T EVOO, for cooking
1 garlic clove (sliced)
1 cup cooked quinoa
4 red bell peppers (roasted with seeds, skins removed)  I rinsed prepared and removed seeds and doubled these.)
3 cups low sodium vegetable stock ( I doubled stock)
1 avocado
2 T chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oil in a medium saucepan.
Add onion, and garlic stirring until onion is tender about 6-8 min.
Add roasted peppers, and stock.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Let cool slightly.
Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth, or use an immersion blender and puree soup directly in the pot.
Refrigerate to chill soup (at least 2 hours) or re-warm to serve hot.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with a scoop of quinoa, avocado slices, a few pieces of cilantro. Diced red onion would be good too, but okay to omit.