Roasted Beetroot and Tomato Soup

This is sure a healthy and nutritious soup which I made last week for our dinner. It has a lovely deep red color from the beets. I roasted the veggies in the oven to give more flavor to the soup. We had it with a piece of bread and it made a filling and nutritious meal. The recipe can be tweaked according to the ingredients available. The soup looks really pretty and the photos do not do justice to the recipe as they were taken in a hurry at night before our dinner.

Ingredients
Beetroot - 2 medium sized
Tomatoes - 3
Carrots - 3
Onion - 1
Garlic - 4 cloves
Bay Leaf - 1
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Dry herbs - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Garlic salt - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Vegetable stock - (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Dice the carrots, tomatoes and beetroot into cubes of equal size. Spread in a single layer in a baking dish and sprinkle with garlic salt and dry herbs and bake for about 30 minutes.
You could absolutely skip this step by roasting the veggies in a stovetop on medium heat with a teaspoon of oil until the veggies turn crispy and slightly cooked.

In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat the oil and add the bay leaf, chopped garlic and onions and saute for two minutes. Add the roasted vegetables, chilli powder, salt and pepper and saute for a while.

Add enough vegetable stock or water and bring it to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Allow the entire mixture to cool.

Remove the bay leaf and blend using a hand blender or in a mixer/blender to form a smooth liquid. Take care while blending. If the mixture is hot, it might burst on you.

Bring the soup back to the stove in a heavy bottomed vessel. Once it heats up, adjust salt and ladle into soup bowls. Garnish with some red chilli flakes and some parmesan cheese.

Serve with some warm bread!

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