I hope everyone is well and healthy. After my usual work weekend, I was able to rest today, Sunday, and finally feel recovered from the flu.

Today I want to share with you the recipe for one of the meals to which I have added a lot more onion than usual and which still tasted super delicious. I made it last Thursday, just before traveling to work. It was a creamy tomato, red onion and red bell pepper soup.

Onions have been our salvation during this respiratoriy syncytial virus. We've been eating them raw and cooked in large quantities everyday for 7 days today--besides the usual medical treatment (acetaminophen and large doses of vitamin C), like everyone else in the family. I like to believe that one of the reasons our respiratory condition has been so little affected, unlike the others who got infected along with us, is because of our food choices; lots of onions included.

It was a hot day, the kind that makes you feel drowsy and clumsy. Since my mood usually works in reverse, I was determined to make a healthy, happy meal to help me reverse my mood and this virus, so I pulled out a bag of quinoa that I had yet to finally open and some other surprises to open and veggies to get the party started.

The soup must be creamy and have some fun toppings and sides. We usually accompany our soup with arepas, cassava cakes, or rice. Today I'm using quinoa for the first time.

Ingredients for the soup:

• 2 1/2 cups red onion
• 4 cups ripe tomato
• 1 1/2 cups red bell pepper
• 3/4 cup sweet chili peppers (I used jobito, a local fruity variety)
• 3 tablespoons garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt to taste

I had a vague idea about how the toppings would be fixed. I had a bag of quinoa, a bag of beluga lentils, a jar of corn kernels, some leek, spring onions, and celery.

Ingredients for toppings/sides:

• 100 gr white quinoa
• 100 gr beluga lentils
• 1 cup leek
• 1/2 cup spring onions
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• Black pepper to taste, cracked
• Almond spread (vegan cream cheese)
• 3 1/2 cups water

This soup is made in the blink of an eye, so we must make sure the sides are ready.

Let us begin with the quinoa and beluga lentil salad.

I was the first time in my life I cooked these products myself. I bought them at the super a couple of weeks ago and have been meaning to use them ever since.

I cooked 100 gr of beluga lentils in 2 cups of water + 1 bay leave + a garlic clove + 1/2 teaspoon salt.

I let them cook for 25 minutes over medium heat. Then I let them drain completely. I'd use all the broth for the soup.

I was doubtful about the quinoa, but it turned out pretty well. I cooked 100 gr of white quinoa in 1 1/2 cups of water + the bay leave and garlic clove I recovered from the cooked lentils + 1/2 teaspoon salt. I let them cook over medium heat. hey were ready in 15 minutes. No need to drain it.

I washed and cut the vegetables.

I washed them well under the tap and then let them soak in a vinegar solution for 15 minutes.

I cut the celery.

The spring onions.

And then put all the cool ingredients in a bowl.

Mixed.

Almost forgot to add the corn.

The side was ready. And I think it looked cute and quite appetizing.It was delicious indeed.

When I was done with the salad, the vegetables of the creamy soup were almost ready. It was time to make the almond spread.

I used:

• 1 cup almonds, soaked in water for 6 hours, peeled (I use the peel for other foods)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon salt

I put all the ingredients in the blender and let it process for a minute.

I used the spread for garnish and also served a little extra.

Let's make soup!

We had an unexpected 6-hour power outage; it started while I was chopping the onions; it was about 6 p.m. By that moment I hoped we wouldn't eat by candlelight.

I chopped all the vegetables except the tomatoes and sauteed them in olive oil along with the bay leaves for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, I chopped the tomatoes. I added it all in the cooking pot after removing the sepals and pedicels, not that I really needed to do it as I wasn't making salad.

I cut the veins from the bell pepper and left them out because they make the soup bitter; the ripe tomatoes give a sweeter soup; the red onion has a more delicate flavor, which lets the tomato bring out all its flavor and sweetness. For me, bay leaves with their smoky flavor are a must in a tomato soup, even more than oregano--which I didn't use today, by the way, because it makes me feel like I'm eating pizza sauce 😆. I just wanted sweet (naturally sweet) soup, as my taste was a bit affected by the flu and a lot of things tasted unpleasantly salty in my mouth.

I added salt.

I also added a cup of beluga lentils broth I was cooking for the side dish.

After 5 minutes over medium heat, I removed the pot from the fire and let it cool a little before processing. I took the bay leaves out--I leave them when I'm making spread, but not for soup (because they make it unpleasantly bitter).

Then I was ready to process the soup. I used a power inverter with a car battery. I had already used it to process the almonds, so I couldn't push it or we could be left in the dark.

Natural light left us in a snap. It was like someone had turned off the lights above. I took a photo while processing the soup in the blender. To me, this photo has a bit of Italian Renaissance about it, which goes very well with the tomato and our medieval circumstances 😆.

You can see white traces from the almond spread.

One last thing before serving: Sauteing the leek

I chopped enough leek for two servings.

Used olive oil and margarine to sautee.

Added some salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

I couldn't take a decent picture because the light from our emergency lamps isn't fit. Fortunately, I made enough food so that I didn't have to cook the next day, and that's when I took the photos to show you the colors of the soup.

The soup was thick and sweet with salty and crunchy moments. The salad paired very well.

I must say that I found the quinoa and beluga lentil salad to be a well rounded meal; I could eat it for lunch some other day, only that I'd need a larger portion and also add some ripe plantain chunks, probably boiled.

Bon appetit!

Thank you so much for your visit :)

All text and images are my own. I have taken the pictures with my Redmi 9T cell phone. And if any GIFs here, I've used GIPHY for all them.