Here is a tasty and colorful soup recipe I’ve been making in the fall for close to twenty years. I’ve never bought margarines or spreads, but I’ve tasted some, so I wouldn’t recommend substituting the butter for any of those things. I’ve used red, orange, and yellow ripe Bell peppers. Don’t use the unripe green ones.

2tbsp Butter
3 large red Bell Peppers, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground Cumin
dash of Cayenne Pepper
2 cans (14.5oz) Chicken or Vegetable Stock
2tsp Lemon Juice

Melt butter over medium in 3quart pot. Add Peppers and Onions, stir occasionally until onions are softened not browned. Mix in Cumin and Cayenne and then add Stock. Bring to boil, cover, and reduce heat to low simmer for 20 minutes. Puree (in batches) in blender or food processor and return to cooking pot. (Be careful, I use a large bowl for un-pureed soup and hold onto the lid of the blender with a towel.) Stir in Lemon Juice. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and White Pepper if needed.

Sounds wonderfully simple.

Here's another simply amazing pureed garden soup:

2 lbs. zucchini, thinly sliced
1/2 small onion, chopped
4 TBS butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup water
2 cups chicken broth

Melt butter and saute zucchini and onion. Add curry powder, garlic, and water to sauteed mixture. Cook, stirring often, until zucchini becomes soft. Cool slightly and pour into blender or food processor. Blend untill smooth Mix zucchini mixture with chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper.

Thanks, I’ll try that this summer. I always get so many zucchini that I’m at a loss at what to make with them.

I almost hate to include this after reading the preceding healthy sounding recipes, but it's good, and calls for 3 bell peppers, a red a green, and a yellow or orange. It's one of those tomato, garlic, wine sauces that smells so good it'll drive you nuts while it's simmering. Good over pasta, good on a bun.

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

4-5 Italian Sausages
2 Tbls Olive Oil
1 Green Bell Pepper sliced into 2”-3” long strips
1 Red Bell Pepper sliced as above
1 Yellow Bell Pepper sliced as above
4 Cloves Garlic diced or sliced into thin slivers
1 Large Onion – sliced into half moons, about ¼” thick
1 15oz can of Diced Tomatoes, or 15 oz crushed tomatoes
1 Tbl Oregano
½ cup Marsala, or Red Wine, optional but highly recommended
¼ - ½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, again optional but highly recommended
Salt to taste


Brown the sausages over medium heat in a skillet that has a lid. Remove from pan and set aside. Sautee the onions and peppers until they get soft, add the garlic and sautee for another minute or two. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a soft spoon or spatula, get all that flavor stuck to the pan into the sauce. Add the tomatoes and oregano, and pepper flakes. Add the sausages, simmer at low heat covered for 20 minutes or so. Serve over pasta, something like rotini, or penne, or whatever, makes a good tailgating sandwich loaded onto a bun, with pepper and onions and a little sauce poured over it. Your choice.

That sounds good and is similar to the "Peppers Roma" recipe I have. That recipe turns out with a thick consistency so you use it as more as a sandwich filling on crusty baguette. When I started this thread I was hoping it would evolve into a list of ideas of what to prepare with excess garden vegetables that don’t preserve well. (And I’ve never found a way to preserve Bell Peppers that was acceptable to me) I’ve even used dehydrated zucchini as a panade of sorts in ginger meatballs. Any ideas for green beans?

Not Bell Peppers but another veggie that you may have to give away.

Sweet and Hot Cucumbers

2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vegetable oil (I use Asian Hot oil or Chili oil)
1 tbsp sugar
2 med shallots, minced (or 2 tbsp minced onion)
1/4th tsp red pepper flakes
2 peeled cucumbers

Stir together first five ingredients in bowl. Quarter cucumbers lengthwise, scrape out seeds with a spoon, and slice into 1/2 inch pieces. Add cucumbers to dressing, stir well, and season to taste with white pepper. Chill 1/2 hours before serving.

With lots of peppers, I'd make pepper beef - just stir fry them with onions and strips of beef. Add any sauce or seasonings you like.

I made a double batch of the ripe Bell Pepper Soup last week. I didn’t have lemons so I used lime juice. When I tasted it I added more cumin for more balance. It reminded me of some soup I had once with chicken and yellow and blue corn tortilla strips, so I added some left over rotisserie chicken and ate it with store bought tortilla chips.

I'll bet that was good. I'm not a real big Mexican food aficionado, but I like the taco salad recipe we make.