Red Pepper & Zucchini Soup, Shrimp & Grits, Tricolor Vegetable Skillet

 Roasted Red Pepper & Zucchini Soup
I needed a quick and tasty soup for our "Yoga-Chi" night -- I do T'ai-chi from 4:30-5:30, then Sally joins me with the same teacher for a one hour Yoga class.  By the time we get home at 7pm, Sally is starving, so I have to have something ready to eat when we walk in  the door.  Soups are great for this application.  Here's my latest!

4 medium/large Red Bell Peppers, seeded deveined and laid flat
1/4 cup Sundried Tomatoes, reconstituted
1 Sweet Onion, chopped
1 medium Zucchini (9" long x 1.5" diameter)
2 cups Veggie Broth
2 cups Water
1 Tbsp Red Sazon Tropical or similar seasoning

Lay the bell peppers skin side up on a baking sheet and put them under your broiler for 5-8 minutes.  You want serious amounts of blackening (flavor).  Don't you dare peel that flavorful skin away and discard it!!!

Slice the zucchini lengthwise into quarters and then crosswise into 1/2" wedges.

In your soup pot, saute the onion  and the sundried tomatoes in a splash of EVOO.  Add the spice, broth and water and bring to a boil.  Add the chopped up red bell peppers, drop the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove solids to a food processor and puree.  Return to the pot, add the zucchini and cook for another 10 minutes or until the zucchini are done but not mushy.  Serve with a piece of nice crusty bread.

Wow!  Is this ever GOOD!

Shrimp & Grits Show-Off
Sally needed a "Southern Comfort" --themed dish for a retirement party at her office.  They wouldn't let me give them a bottle of bourbon, so I did the next best thing:  my creamy-dreamy White Cheesy Shrimp & Grits!!

This one turned out so pretty (not to mention tasty) that I thought I'd share a photo and make you drool too!

That's a 9" diameter dish there....

The grits have 3 cheeses -- Goat cheese, Mozzarella, and Extra Sharp White Cheddar; total of maybe 1 cup of cheese into the 1 cup of dry grits being cooked in 4 cups of liquid. I use water and half&half in equal amounts for the cooking liquid, and I add White Pepper for a bit of tang.  The cheese is added in the last 10 minutes of cooking.  The shrimp I usually buy pre-cooked and peeled, then saute them with a dusting of Cajun seasoning to give them their own kick!

Tricolor Vegetable Skillet
I'm calling this a "skillet" because the spicing is not Asian, so it's not a "stir fry".  So There!

1 Zucchini
1 Yellow Squash
2 Carrots
1 Red Onion
3 cloves Garlic, minced
S&P to taste
2 tsp fresh Thyme leaves
1 tsp Lemon Zest
1/4 Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

Peel the veggies lengthwise.  Just keep peeling ribbons until you get down to the seeds.  Slice the onion, of course.  

Heat a splash of EVOO in a large skillet.  Cook the onion for  few minutes until it starts to soften.  Then add the ribbons, garlic, salt & pepper.  

Cook for another 4-5 minutes until the ribbons soften.  Lastly add the thyme and lemon zest, cook a minute or two more to incorporate those flavors, then plate.  Top with cheese and serve.  
Makes two nice servings.