tomato & roasted garlic soup

This time of year I find myself constantly craving warm comfort foods to get my mind off of the cold weather. This Tomato & Roasted Garlic Soup really does the trick, especially when you serve it with Mediterranean Olive Bread from Colleen Patrick Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking. I’m terrified of using yeast and waiting for dough to rise, so this flavorful artisan style bread packed with rosemary, sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and walnuts (no yeast) is perfect for me. The flavors tie in so well with the fresh herbs in this hearty soup that one dish from this meal wouldn’t be complete without the other.
Although you can purchase already roasted garlic at the grocery store, roasting it yourself is so easy there’s really no excuse not to. Plus, the flavor is much more intense, which works perfectly for the flavor of this soup.

Roasted Garlic

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Break off about half of your garlic bulb, leaving the cloves in your half attached to each other.
Slice off the top of the bulb so that the insides of the cloves are exposed.
Wrap the bulb in foil and drizzle with olive oil before securing the foil over the top.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and unwrap the top of your foil cover.
Return to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Voila!

Tomato & Roasted Garlic Soup

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 cup Onion, chopped
Handful of Sun Dried Tomatoes
14.5 oz. can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes
5 cloves Roasted Garlic
¾ cup Vegetable Broth
1/3 cup Fresh Basil (tightly packed), chopped
1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary, chopped
Pinch of Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, sauté onion in olive oil until translucent.
Add sun dried tomatoes, canned tomatoes, roasted garlic, vegetable broth, and fresh herbs.
Using an immersion blender, carefully blend all ingredients in the saucepan.
If soup is too acidic, add a pinch of sugar to neutralize the acid.
Simmer over medium-low heat until flavors blend and soup is hot.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve topped with home-made croutons.

Home-Made Croutons

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Simply slice your favorite bread (fresh or day old) into cubes.
In a small bowl, toss bread cubes in olive oil, salt, pepper, and dry herbs. I like rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, and basil.
Bake on a foil-lined baking sheet for about 20 minutes, periodically turning croutons so they brown evenly on all sides.
This recipe makes 2 servings.
Nutritional Information for 1 serving of Tomato & Roasted Garlic Soup**:
Calories: 140.0
Total Fat: 7 g
Saturated Fat: 1.0 g
Sodium: 800 mg
Total Carbs: 16.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.5 g
Sugars: 7.9 g
Protein: 2.5 g
**this information is for the soup alone, not including croutons.