Steemit Iron Chef 2017 #11 - Le Belle Colori Della Bella Paprica

My dish for #steemit-ironchef No.11 is a starter, a colorful abstract painting and a raw vegan reminiscence on the past summer. ☀️

A tomato soup I use to cook a lot inspired me somehow. I spun the thread forth to my bellissimi Bell Peppers with the four outer colors of the 🌈 rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green. In my thoughts I tried to pair the bell pepper with other ingredients that would match or highlight their colors and harmonize with their tastes. The plan was to combine these to four different looking and different tasting pureed starter soups.

These were my ingredients:

• all four colors: red, orange, yellow, green - each two Bell Peppers
• two tomatoes
• olive oil
• fresh parsley 
• a small shallot
• three gloves of garlic
• half a papaya
• half a persimmon
• fresh tumeric
• half a small fennel
• a lemon
• half an yellowish apple
• fresh ginger 
• cashews
• a handful of lambs lettuce
• a noticable amount of fresh cilantro leaves 
• hot vegtable broth
• oat cream
• salt, pepper (black and white) and hot pepperoni powder 

One thing was essential also: a strong blender!

Preparation:

I peeled all eight Bell Peppers, removed ribs and seeds and cut into rough pieces. I peeled the fruits, the tomatoes, washed the fennel and the green leaves and also cut in pieces (if needed). I cut the shallot in slices and the ginger the tumeric and the garlic in fine pieces. 

🍅 For the red soup I took the pieces of the red peppers, the tomatoes, some fresh parsley, the shallots, some garlic, some olive oil, salt and fresh ground black pepper, some oat cream and a cup of the vegetable broth and mixed everything in my blender until smooth and creamy.

🍊 The orange Bell Pepper soup was more exotic and fruity. I mixed the pieces of the orange Pepper with papaya, persimmon, tumeric, lemon juice, cashews, oat cream, salt and a tiny dash of fresh ground white pepper, some pepperoni powder to make it a little bit spicy and a cup of vegetable broth.

🍋 The yellow soup became a mixture of endemic AND exotic aromas as well. Into the blender went the yellow pieces of the Bell Pepper, the apple, the fennel, cashews again, salt and white pepper (not too much but as much that it would make it a little bit spicy in the special way white pepper does - hard to describe. When in doubt start with less, taste and add more if needed) and a cup of vegetable broth. Mix until smooth.

🌱 My green soup was the hardest thing for me because I don't like green Bell Peppers so much actually. For me they have a bitter and harsh taste and the goal was to moderate this typical taste and to cover it slightly. The first thing - to moderate - I tried with quite a lot of lambs lettuce and the tender sweetness of a cup of cashews. The job to cover the taste of the green bell pepper a bit and to make the green soup unique got the cilantro, a spice and herb I really learned to appreciate. Also aboard was garlic, black pepper, pepperoni powder and the mandatory vegetable broth.

🥄 I mixed and tasted every of the four different soups before pooring out of the blender. I seasoned if needed and added some tapioka starch (works in cold liquids) if I thought the texture was too watery and not creamy enough.

Actually, for me this is more a summer dish. Among others local cultivated Bell Peppers are a typical summer vegetable around here. It has to be imported during the rest of the year or it comes from glass houses. Because a perfect summer would be hot, I made sure all of my soups (and the ingredients) are good to eat uncooked and served chilled. But it is also possible to serve them lukewarm right after preparing or even heated or cooked if you need a hot and steamy soup in winter. I can imagine to top these soups with things like other vegetables or croutons or herbs and stuff. Whatever the fridge and your phantasy offers ... 😉

I served the soups together with some crackers topped with a smokey pepper vegan white cheeze spread.

I hope you liked my contribution to @progressivechef's #steemit-ironchef. Here is the original post if you need to learn more about it and its rules: STEEMIT IRON CHEF #11. Thank you @progressivechef for the possibility and the fun time and delicious home cooked food in brings to our house! 😊

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that I didn't throw away the peel of the peepers. I mixed them together with olive oil, sunflower seeds, dried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to make a kind of pesto for a quick lunch another day this week. Yes, some people laugh about me or think I am crazy a little bit ...