Making a filling, flavorful, and delicious soup doesn't have to take hours. Instead, if you use alternative cooking methods to speed up the elements of the soup — in this case, fine chopping and broiling the vegetables — your soup can be finished in a quick 30 minutes. Toasted Indian spices make this dish an exotic and exciting vegetarian meal. Serve with crisped pita and a chilled, dry Riesling. For the recipe,

Indian Roasted Eggplant Soup [1]
From Vegetarian Times [2] magazine

1 large eggplant (about 11/2 lb.), coarsely chopped
1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped apple
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. Dijon-style mustard
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 12-oz. can tomato juice
3 Tbs. chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish, optional
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat broiler. Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place eggplant, bell pepper, onion, apple, vinegar, mustard and salt in large mixing bowl, and toss to combine and coat vegetables well. Place vegetables on large baking sheet.
3. Broil vegetables in middle of oven, stirring every 5 minutes, until browned and tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside until ready to use.
4. Combine roasted vegetables in food processor or blender, and add olive oil, curry powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, sugar, tomato juice and 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro. Process, adding water to thin if needed, and working in batches if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Reheat, garnish with cilantro, if desired, and serve hot.

Serves 4.

PER SERVING: 110 CAL; 3G PROT; 1G TOTAL FAT; 21G CARB; 0MG CHOL; 430MG SOD; 6G FIBER; 13G SUGARS

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