Now Cooking : Tomato Basil Roasted Pepper Vegan

Tomato Basil Roasted Pepper Vegan

Vegan Tomato Basil Pepperjack Roasted Pepper Panini

makes one sandwich

2 slices sourdough bread (or multigrain)

2 tsp vegan buttery spread – spread on the outside layer of each slice of bread

5 thin slices tomato (1 small tomato)

handful fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup Daiya pepperjack cheese (or less, or more)

a few thin slices roasted red or yellow pepper (from a jar)

fine black pepper to taste

1 cup baby spinach - wilts down during grilling (optional - included in nutrition calculation)

optional: onion, harissa, squirt of lemon juice, sprouts, other veggies..

Nutritional Info from caloriecount.com - estimate per sandwich as shown above:

Calories: 377, Fat: 14g, Protein: 10g, Carbs: 49g, Iron: 20% Calcium: 7%, Vita A: 90%, VitaC: 147% Fiber: 5g

Easy Roasted Tomato Soup
makes 6 cups

For roasting veggies:
2 lbs vine tomatoes
1 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt + 1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp dried Italian herb blend
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2-6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Add-in to blending step:
1 Tbsp agave syrup (to taste)
2 Tbsp vegan butter (Earth Balance)
1 tsp garlic paste or 4 cloves roasted garlic (roast cloves with the onions)
a few dashes of cayenne
salt/pepper to taste

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Add tomatoes to a roasting pan. Remove most stems. You can leave a few on for tomato on stem garnishes as seen in my photos. Also chop and add onions to pan.

3. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, Italian seasoning, fresh thyme sprigs, optional garlic cloves and sea salt to the tomatoes and onions. I like to brush some of the lemon/oil onto the tomatoes to evenly distribute. Add in the fresh thyme. You will remove the thyme stems after roasting. The liquid should form a shallow pool for the veggies to soak in as they roast. You can use more or less olive oil depending on how rich you want your soup - as the excess liquid will be poured into your soup blend.

4. You onions should be caramelized and nicely roasted in about 20 minutes or so. You can remove them and let them rest while the tomatoes roast for another 10-20 minutes - you want them to burst and become slightly shriveled and the edges browned - but not burnt. Remove fresh thyme stems. 

5. The last step is to blend the soup. Add the de-stemmed tomatoes, roasted onions and the 2 Tbsp vegan butter to a high speed blender like a Vitamix. Blend on the lowest setting possible for a good 2-3 minutes. Do a few seconds, up to a minute on high speed. Turn off. Do a taste test. You can adjust salt/pepper/oil as you'd like. You can even add in other ingredients like cayenne, fresh basil, other dried spices and more. Note: the high speed setting will not only break up any tomato skin clumps or onion skins, but it will also heat the soup even more. But use with extreme caution as hot liquids can explode in a blender setting. 

6. Serve warm - no need to reheat! The soup will be perfectly warm and ready to serve. Or you can place over low heat on the stove (in a soup pot) until ready to be served. 

Serve with some warm grilled cheese sandwiches for ultimate coziness. (sandwich recipes above)  

refreshing green juice too.. (green bell pepper + green apple + lemon + ginger + cucumber)

The recipe, come from source http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com