Roasted Tomato Soup
If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, you will know that it’s soup weather right now. Soup is such a great vehicle for getting loads of veg into the diet, especially during Winter when you may not feel like eating lots of raw veg and salads. Plus, many kids enjoy veg in the form of soups as opposed to other cooked veg dishes.
I usually just chuck whatever veg I have going in my fridge into a pot, add water, vegetable stock and herbs and that’s my soup. But once in a while, I decide to actually make a more “fancy” soup like this Roasted Tomato Soup. It’s super easy to make (probably easier than my more “everyday” soup dishes) and is great for freezing and meal-prepping.
Tomatoes are packed with lycopene which is an antioxidant with cancer fighting properties. In addition, this soup is packed with garlic and onion which are high in prebiotics (they help to keep your gut bacteria healthy) and which have natural anti-bacterial properties to keep those Winter sniffles away.
All-in-all it’s a pretty good option for a cold Winter’s night. Serve with some toasted whole-grain bread and some hummus for added protein.
For my patients on calorie-controlled meal plans:
1 serving of this recipe (1/6th of the recipe) =
1 fat serving
2 vegetable servings
Serves 6 as a side dish
Ingredients:
1kg sweet ripe tomatoes (cherry or roma tomatoes are best), quartered.
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped.
2 red bell peppers, roughly diced.
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
1 sprig fresh rosemary or 2 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt, or to taste
4 tsp Ina Paarmen vegetable stock powder dissolved in 2 cups water
freshly ground black pepper
Optional: A swirl of fresh coconut cream for serving
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 220’C on bake/ grill function and line a baking tray with a Silpat mat or non-stick spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add your diced vegetables and pour the oil over the veg. Toss through until the veg are well coated.
3. Lay the vegetables in a flat layer along the baking tray and sprinkle over the salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary.
4. Place the veg in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden. Then, take the veg out of the oven and turn the oven down to 180’C and onto thermofan.
5. Give the veg a toss on the baking tray and then place them back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes until completely soft.
6. Allow the veg to cool slightly before adding them into your high-powered blender. Add to the high-powered blender along with the vegetable stock and water and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you can use a stick blender but the soup may not be as smooth.
7. Re-heat before serving. Add a dollop of fresh coconut cream for an extra decadent experience.
