Roasted Red Pepper, Tomato, and Black Bean Soup

This was very tasty. Recipe courtesy of Spilling the Beans.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 4 -5  large tomatoes
• 1  red bell peppers or 1  yellow bell peppers or 1  orange bell pepper, seeded and halved
• 3 -5  garlic cloves, peeled
• 1  jalapeno pepper, seeded and halved
•  canola oil or  olive oil, to taste
• 1  onion, chopped
• 1  celery, chopped
• 1  teaspoon ground cumin
• 4  cups  chicken stock or 4  cups  vegetable stock
•  salt, to taste
•  pepper, to taste
• 1 1⁄2 cups  cooked black beans (or 14 1/2 oz can, rinsed and drained)
• 1⁄2 half-and-half (optional)
•  steamed rice, for serving (optional)
•  crumbled feta, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. LIne a rimmed baking sheet with tin foil.
2. Place the tomatoes, garlic, and jalapeno on the sheet.
3. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat the vegetables. Arrange them cut side down in a single layer. Roast for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the skin of the peppers is blistered.
4. Remove from the oven. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel off their skin.
5. Meanwhile, in a large soup pot, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion and celery for 5 minutes, until soft. Add the cumin and cook for another minute.
6. Scrape the roasted tomatoes and peppers into the pot, including any juices that have collected in the bottom of the pan, and add the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until everything is nice and soft.
7. Season with salt and pepper and puree with a handheld immersion blender until smooth.
8. Stir in the black beans and cream (if using) and heat through. If you like, pile some rice and/or feta in the bottom of each serving bowl before ladling the hot soup overtop.