Roasted Tomato Coconut Soup. Vegan. Gluten free.

Tis the season of tomatoes.  The end of summer marks a bountiful supply of tomatoes in your garden, at the farmer’s market or local farm stands.  You can get a case of seconds (you don’t need pristine tomatoes as your going to chop them up & roast them) in most cases under $12.  Out of one case of tomatoes I can make 2 large batches of this soup & several containers of marinara sauce recipe here.  Roasting them & dividing them to prep differently allows you to work efficiently in preparation.  Plus you can stock your freezer up for easy & flavorful dinners all winter long.  My marinara sauce also doubles as our pizza sauce.  Endless uses and the flavor of roasted tomatoes is unparalleled.  Seriously.

Roasting ingredients:

4 lbs of tomatoes (2nds are more cost effective and work perfectly)
Olive oil
6-8 cloves of garlic, left whole or cut in halves
Fresh herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme etc.) or dried Italian seasonings (2 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons of salt
Freshly ground pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees.  Using baking sheets with sides, drizzle the bottom of each sheet (you will need approximately 2) with a few tablespoons of oil.  Core each tomato.  Then slice in half then slice each half in half again.  Place on the baking sheet.  Repeat.  Place your garlic cloves on top.  Sprinkle or lay your herbs of choice on top.  Season with salt and pepper evenly.  If you don’t wish to use salt, avoid this step or use a sodium-free seasoning mix.

Roast for 3 hours or more.  You really have some flexibility here because you are cooking low and slow.  Nothing burns and you can let them go as long as you like.  I’ve roasted for up to 5 hours.  Remove and let them cool.

Ingredients Soup:

Roasted tomatoes
2 cups of water
1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk
1 tablespoons of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
2 teaspoons of smoked chili powder (omit if you prefer the soup to not be spicy)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 tablespoon of maple syrup or coconut sugar

Method:

Place your tomatoes in a high powered blender and pulse only a few times to break the tomatoes down.  *If you prefer, you can add your tomatoes to a large stock pot and blend with an hand immersion blender.  If you prefer a smoother soup, blend till creamy.  Then add to a large stock pot and add the remaining ingredients.  Simmer over a very low flame for about 20-30 minutes for the other flavors to develop.  Serve immediately or let cool completely if freezing.  Store in airtight, freezer-safe containers. 
Let the hot tomatoes cool for about 8-10 minutes before blending in your Vitamix or with a hand immersion blender.

Add to your stock pot and add your ingredients. Stir and let simmer.

Enjoy!

I’m so excited to update you all on what’s been happening post 16 weeks since my meniscus root repair.  I had my strength test (Cyber) on Wednesday afternoon and the PT was so kind to share my awesome results.  My fast twitch muscles were okay (what I expected as I’m not currently running speed sessions 😉 but my slow twitch muscles were only 3% off from my healthy leg. The goal is 10% or under.  VERY happy.   I then met with my surgeon and his PA on Thursday.  They were both so pleased with my progress.  Understood & were quite accepting of my running before clearance. My knee looked great.  Muscle tone and quad strength were really good.  Cleared to run, officially!  I then ran Thursday – 7 sweltering miles.  I’m still taking several days off in between.  I was told that the 6 month mark is my goal & I’ll play by these rules.  This is my recap so far this week…

Sunday:  20 mile trail ride (cycling)
Monday: 8.33 outdoor miles (running) before sunrise – my happy time.
Tuesday: Planned rest day or a late gym sesh as I’m traveling to my client to deliver food.

That’s a wrap.  Happy Monday!

— Knead to Cook