Roasted Bell Pepper and Tomato Soup

Abundance is the word when it comes to fresh garden grown vegetables in Moldova. I mean it. So much of it, that a lot just goes waste on good crop years- especially the smaller sized veggies, that could not make their way through the mouth of the canning jar. Well, by waste I usually mean that chicken or other hungry species may indulge in these sun ripe delicacies. 

Like this large bucket (about 15 lb.) of tomatoes that I fetched from a lady's garden, a neighbor, that was begging me to "salvage" the tons of tomatoes that would otherwise have gone waste- if I loved them SO much and if they were indeed $5+ a kg. in US (organic, for sure). (here she made a few cross signs- in disbelief).

I cooked a whole hoard of dishes using them for the following 1 week or so, but soups topped the list simply because they are so delightfully light and nourishing. I love roasting bell peppers and tomatoes before pureeing them into a nice smooth soup- seasoned with ground cumin and salt- garnished with croutons- a winner, no doubt!