Roasted Red Pepper Coconut Soup

From the Moosewood Restaurant! I took home an entire tray of roasted red peppers from a reception we had at work. This was the perfect recipe to use up a good portion of them. Feel free to adjust the heat to suit your tastes. The original recipe is listed below, however, I actually used LESS crushed red pepper (which is totally NOT like me) and it was perfect! This was so quick, easy and delicious!

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 6  red bell peppers, roasted, seeded and peeled or 2 (13 ounce) jars  roasted red peppers
• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 2  cups onions, chopped
• 2  garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 1  teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1 (16 ounce) can canned tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (14 ounce) can reduced-fat coconut milk
• 2  cups water

Directions

1. Warm oil over medium heat in large stock pot.
2. Add the onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and sauté for about 15 minutes, until the onions are very soft and translucent.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and add the tomatoes, coconut milk, water, and the roasted red peppers.
4. In batches in a blender, puree the soup until smooth.
5. Return it to the soup pot and cook on medium heat until hot.
6. Serve immediately.