Cream of Tomato Soup with Fire Roasted Tomatoes
There’s something about cream of tomato soup that oozes comfort. When I was growing up my Mom would occasionally forgo our typical Southern meat-and-two-vegetables-with-ice-tea dinner and opt for something quick and easy. Often this approach involved her opening a can of cream of tomato soup, making cheese sandwiches, and suddenly we’d have dinner. Since I was a kid I probably missed the context of such a quick and easy meal (was Mom was stressed out? was she too tired to cook? was it was the end of the month and we were being frugal?) but such adult things didn’t really enter my pre-adolescent mind. I was just happy we were having tomato soup for dinner! The comfort element was further enforced do to the fact that Mom’s standard way to deal with an upset tummy was to serve saltines, ginger ale, and cream of tomato soup. Cream of tomato soup was a palatable panacea that was a cupboard staple in our house.
Thanks to Mom, I love cream of tomato soup. But as the years have gone by my taste for processed canned soup has waned. Enter this recipe – a quick and easy vegan cream of tomato soup. It satisfies my comfort food needs and is easy to make – I made a batch tonight in about 30 minutes. The leftovers are cooling as I write this blog.
Quick Vegan Cream of Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
1 medium red onion
Several cloves of garlic
Basil or herb/spice of choice
2 large cans of organic fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup or so of vegetable stock
Unsweetened almond creamer
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Optional: truffle oil, almond cream cheese
The cooking part:
- Chop the onion and mince the garlic, then sauté in olive oil. A dash of truffle oil adds some flavor.
- Add the basil or herb/spice of choice to the cooking onions. When they are soft add the stock (you can use water if you want) and let this simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the two cans of fire roasted tomatoes, bring to a boil, then let simmer another 5 or 10 minutes. I used one can of crushed and one of diced tomatoes.
- Remove from the heat and purée with a blender. I usually leave it somewhat chunky. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the almond creamer to taste and stir it up.
- Serve with a dollop of almond cream cheese. I also add a big dash or five of hot sauce. Tonight I used a medium chipotle and it was quite tasty.
Add a salad if you choose. Or some bread.
Enjoy!
