Slow Cooker Red Pepper Soup

I love red pepper season - there's nothing like that fresh sweetness, so during the next couple of months I will be indulging.

On Sunday I made this simple supper of beans and peppers cooked in the slow cooker. A little chipotle in adobe added the heat that played beautifully off the sweet peppers, and the beans made it a good stick-to-the-ribs meal after a day of gardening.

I pre-cooked some pinquito beans (28 minutes in the pressure cooker) for the soup. Other days I've used green lentils instead and added them in raw, adding an extra 2 cups of water for them to cook in. Sometimes I use half cooked beans and half lentils. You really can't go wrong with legumes.

Slow Cooker Red Pepper Soup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 chipotle in adobo, chopped
2 red peppers, cored and chopped
1 cup pinquito beans, cooked (yields about 3 cups cooked beans - you can use 4 cans of beans instead)

Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion until it softens, then stir in the garlic and cook another minute. Add chipotle and cook, stirring another minute. Stir in the red peppers and let them cook 2-3 minutes until they are beginning to soften. Scrape the mixture into the slow cooker, making sure to get all the brownish bits off the bottom of the skillet.

Stir in the cooked beans and 3 cups water.

Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little red wine vinegar in if needed to balance the sweetness, or a little olive oil for richness.

Serves 8

The red peppers and onions before going in the slow cooker.