Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Shrimp & Garlic Toast

I decided that this fall and winter I would try to try a bunch of different soups. One of the first ones on my list was this red pepper soup for its simplicity. I envisioned a hearty soup with pieces of sweet red pepper combining with shrimp and a nice crusty garlic bread.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Shrimp and Garlic Toast
Source: Clean Eating Magazine, March 2012
Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

• 24 oz. jarred roasted red peppers, drained
• 3 cups low-sodium fat free chicken broth
• 15 oz. great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 16 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 8 oz. baguette, sliced into 1" rounds
• 1 garlic clove
• salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Combine the red peppers and 1 cup of the chicken broth together in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to large stockpot and add the remaining broth, beans, bay leaves and oregano. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer.
4. Meanwhile, brush the baguette slices with olive oil. Heat a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Place the bread on the skillet and grill for 1-2 minutes. Transfer the bread to a plate and rub with the garlic clove.
5. Add a splash of oil to the skillet and cook the shrimp for 1-2 minutes per side or until cooked through.
6. Ladle the soup into bowls, topping with the shrimp. Serve with the garlic toast.

The original recipe calls for 4 cups of chicken broth but I decided to cut this back after seeing how watery the soup was with only 3 cups. I was expecting this to be a flavorful soup, but the flavors were really mild and mostly taken over by the extreme amount of chicken broth. While this was okay, and served its purpose as a good warm-you-up soup, I don't think I'll be making it again without some serious modifications.