Easy Creamy Tomato Soup with Herbed-Garlic Goat Cheese Toasts for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

Sometimes I make a soup just to go with something else. I had some leftover Herbed-Garlic Goat Cheese from the Eric Ripert recipe I made on Friday and I really had an urge to dip it in creamy tomato soup. You might think of tomato soup for cold days but I eat soup in any temp and tomato soup is so quick and easy, I don't mind cooking it on the warmer days. Also the tart and savory goat cheese and fresh basil leaves give it a lighter, more summery feel.

Although I served it with my all-dairy cheese, I like using coconut milk in my creamy tomato soups--its natural sweetness enhances the tomato and the texture makes it extra creamy. You can use any milk or cream, non-dairy included.

Easy Creamy Tomato Soup
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Serves 4)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp celery seed
small pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
3 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes & their juices
2 cups vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk or 1 to 1 1/2 cups milk of choice
2 tsp brown sugar
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute onions until soft and add the garlic, herbs and spices, and the crushed red pepper,and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and vegetable broth, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, and (in batches if you don't have a high speed blender), puree in a blender until smooth.  Return soup to the pot, stir in the coconut milk and brown sugar and heat through. Season to taste with sea salt and fresh pepper as needed.

Notes/Results: Just a very simple tomato soup, very creamy and delicious--especially when paired with warm, crusty toasted bread smeared with herbed-garlic goat cheese. ;-) I just tossed the soup together with what I had in my pantry--you could add a carrot or celery if you have it, or fresh herbs--whatever you like. If you want it less creamy, use less coconut milk or your milk of choice. You can adjust the spice level too or leave out the red pepper flakes.  Easy and tasty, I would definitely make it again.

 We have some great dishes in the Souper Sundays kitchen--let's take a look!

Judee of Gluten Free A- Z shared Spring Salad with Orange Cashew Dressing and said, "This colorful spring salad calls for seasonal dark greens and sweet strawberries and the citrus dressing adds an interesting touch. ... I like to eat a raw salad for lunch. This one has great eye appeal, lots of crunch, and interesting flavors. It has a wide variety of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. In addition, it adds a nice fiber boost to your day to help you detoxify a little."

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor brought Creamy Mushroom Soup and said, "It's May and it's hot around these parts but that doesn't usually deter me from making soup. This particular soup has been on my radar for a while but I kept putting it off. After reading a Nicci French book (Frieda Klein series) I started thinking about a mushroom garlic soup again. It was one of the culinary items mentioned in that book and I actually planned to make it the representative dish. You could use all sorts of mushrooms such as shiitake, portabello or white button - any sort you like. I used the white button mushrooms, not very adventurous this time but was good."

 

A big welcome to Mae from Mae's Food Blog who joins in Souper Sundays for the first time! Mae shared her French Onion Soup, saying, "Onion soup made according to the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I. ... I prefer the cheese toasts to be added to the soup, rather than the alternative of covering the soup with cheese and heating it under the broiler. The latter method always results in my burning my tongue! Today's soup was inspired by Len's bread, perfect for toasting with cheese. Or with butter and jam."

Debra of Eliot's Eats shared her Sichuan Cucumber and Noodle Salad, inspired by our Cook the Books selection. She said, "I have experimented a bit with Sichuan peppercorns and I like the overall punch of acid of this unique spice. Although my Sichuan pepper went into the making of hot chili oil, I adapted a salad recipe to highlight the spice. ... Depending on how hot you want this dressing, you may want to cut the chili oil with a mild oil like grape seed oil."

Thanks to everyone who joined in Souper Sundays this week!
  
About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up her in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!