Spanish Spiced Red Pepper Bisque

This velvety pepper soup is super-healthy and packed with vitamins, but the title is what really made me want to make it. "Spanish" and "bisque" are two words that always attract my attention.. Barcelona is next on our world-travel bucket list (Ibiza! Sparkling Mediterranean! Tapas!), and bisque....oh, myyy!

So here's to a gorgeous dose of smooth, creamy, satisfying vegetables. You know how we love roasted peppers. We added sweet potatoes for texture and sweetness, and a whole lot of herbs and spices. As usual, we departed the text when it came to seasoning this luscious soup.

When Joe was stirring up these veggies, I was thinking of all of you and wishing you could smell what I was smelling. Oh my, this is good, and good for you.

Ingredients

10 medium red peppers, halved, cored, and seeded

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onions

Salt and pepper to taste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 cup fat-free chicken or vegetable stock

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp sweet curry

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika (trust me, the smoked kind is the best - buy a lot!)

1/4 cup low-fat yogurt

Instructions

Heat broiler to high. Line two baking sheets with foil. Lay out the halved peppers on the sheets and broil the peppers until they are slightly soft and the skins are well blackened. You're going to remove the skins, so let them get nice and charred.

While they are cooking, heat the sweet potato chunks in the microwave until they are just barely tender.

Put the blackened peppers into a paper bag and seal; let cool until they are easy to handle. Peel off the skins (Joe uses a knife to strip the skins where they are stubborn) and chop into small pieces. 

Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the onions and garlic until they start to become tender. Add the broth, peppers, herbs, paprika, salt and pepper, and sweet potato chunks. Simmer 5 minutes, then turn off heat, take out the bay leaf, and stir in the yogurt.

Using an immersion blender or your food processor, puree the soup until it's smooth. Serve with extra oregano scattered on top, as Weight Watchers suggests

Serves 6. 

If you're on a Weight Watchers plan, this recipe is 3 points for a one-cup serving. Each cup is one serving of veg.