Raw Dream of Tomato Soup: Simple & Healthy for Souper (Soup, Salad and Sammie) Sundays

A busy week and weekend require a quick and easy soup like this blender Raw Dream of Tomato Soup from Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health. It's the companion book to the foodie documentary of the same name--which if you have not seen it, is an excellent movie focusing on changing your diet to improve your health.

Toss everything in the blender and blend until smooth. If you have a high-powered blender, it will warm the soup too--making it even easier. This one is full of lycopene, vitamin C and even protein and Omega-3's from the hemp seed. 

Chef AJ says, "A much healthier version of a childhood favorite with a twist, reminiscent of of Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup."

Raw Dream of Tomato Soup 

By Chef AJ, Unprocessed (Forks Over Knives) 

(Serves 4 as an Appetizer or 2 as an Entree)

1 lb Roma tomatoes, chopped

2 red bell peppers, seeded

1 garlic clove

6 to 8 large fresh basil leaves

juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp sun-dried tomato powder (see tip)

1/4 tsp chipotle powder (or more to taste)

1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds, optional
(I added 1/2 tsp of agave and a pinch each of sea salt and black pepper)

Puree the tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, lemon juice, tomato powder, and chipotle powder in a high-powered blender until smooth. Add the hemp seeds and blend again until creamy. The high-powered blender will warm the soup without its being heated on the stove. Serve immediately.

Tip: If you can't find sun-dried tomato powder you can easily make your own. Just grind hard sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed ones) in a coffee grinder. 
  

Notes/Results: Creamy and full of flavor, this soup is ready to eat in minutes.The only change I made was to add just a bit of the agave to pull out the sweetness in the tomatoes and a little salt and pepper. I served it with my favorite raw "Not Tuna Salad" and "Sprouted Seed Crusts" from a local raw food supplier. (I am trying to recreate the salad but have not cracked the code quite yet) ;-) It made for a light and healthy dinner that I would make again.

Now let's check out the dishes waiting in the Souper Sundays kitchen.

Janet of The Taste Space made this hearty Red Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lime and says, “In this soup, you have a savoury red lentil soup flavoured primarily by mustard, oh yes mustard, with a hint cumin, sweetened by the spinach, then livened by the cilantro and fresh lime juice. They work so well together. And yes, this time my yellow mustard seeds did not disappoint! I am positively smitten by mustard.”

Tigerfish of Teczcpe – An Escape to Food says, “For some reason (probably habitual - if you start to eat something less often, you tend to eat them less often), I have used less pork in my cooking and usually substitute pork with chicken when meat is called for. Of course, pork and chicken don't taste the same. A lot of Chinese soups when cooked with pork, gets more "sweetness accentuated" compared to chicken. Now, I have cooked this popular Chinese WatercressSoup (often cooked with pork ribs) with organic chicken.”

Carol of There’s Always Thyme to Cook has a Heirloom Tomato Soup to share this week and says, “This is definitely worth a repost, especially since we're coming into tomato season! Heirloom tomatoes. The different colored tomatoes gives the soup a really deep color and a great taste. You can use any tomatoes you like. Plain supermarket tomatoes are delicious in this soup as well. The roasting really brings out the flavor. I'm lucky that some of the markets around here carries heirlooms. I used a mix of those and vine tomatoes from the supermarket.”

Stash of Simple Season Kitchens has two salads to show. First up, A Spring Troika of Fennel, Celery and Cheese about which he says, "Fennel, is, to my own sensibility, one of the more under-rated spring vegetables. It has a faint anise flavor and a gentle sweetness that pairs well especially with fish. I feel that it’s not eaten as much here in the United States, which is a shame. Here, it’s sliced paper-thin and tossed with celery and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, in an elegant salad that’s perfect as an appetizer or starter course for either a light lunch or dinner." 

Stash’s second dish is this pretty Pan-SearedSea Scallops, Spring Lettuce Salad with Asparagus, Crimini Mushrooms, NasturtiumFlowers and Cheese. He says, “This recipe serves one so you may have to adjust proportions if you’re faced with more than one ravenous eater.”

Debbie of Easy Natural Foods is here with her first official salad of the season, this Tangy Carrot-Apple Salad and says, “…even though you’d probably consider this more of a Fall recipe (when apples and cranberries are in season) it seemed fitting to open Summer Sunday Salads with this recipe as it finally gave me the impetus to make it. And I’m glad I did! This is a really tasty salad, a definite keeper and sure to be a crowd-pleaser.”

Joanne of Eats Well With Others made this colorful Pesto Pasta Salad with Roasted Asparagus,String Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Olives and says, “Pesto pasta on the table. …Emotionally eating the idea that someday soon someone might try to force us into a bathing suit under the guise of "vacation" or an "MD/PhD retreat" or just as a most sincerest form of torture. Oh, yes.  I'd say it's official. Summer. Is. Here. So let's eat our pesto pasta salad that is stuffed with so many veggies it's unreal.” 

Speaking of pesto, Graziana of Erbe en Cucina shares a scrumptious Pesto and Purslane Sandwich this week and says, “Every spring the purslane grows spontaneously in many empty pots and I water it with love and harvest all summer long. For a quick snack, I spread some buns with a special pesto, enriched with walnuts, gorgonzola cheese and roasted peppers, then I added a nice bunch of purslane.”

Finally we have Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe Blog back with a Vegan Pumpkin Feta Bacon Sandwich. She says, “This last lunch was the simplest to assemble and yet is the one of which I am most proud.  This is a made-from-scratch triumph!  I baked the honey and oat bread, roasted the pumpkin, made the almond feta and even made the tofu bacon that was fried with some cabbage. Leftover sandwiches are the best!”

Fantastic creations this week--thanks to everyone who joined in! If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays logo on my sidebar for all of the details.

Have a happy, healthy week!