Very Vegan Part II

What goes better with salad than soup? We chose a tomato bisque recipe to try (my pick was carrot ginger but I lost that fight). The oddest part of the recipe is that it calls for a roasted beet. This completely threw me off but I wanted to include it since I'm a novice at vegan cooking. You roast the damn thing for an hour and a half. It only took about 20 minutes to make the soup! Be sure to add in time to allow the soup to cool. I had to stick mine outside which worked out well since it was 2 above that night.

I have one major gripe with this recipe and it is the beet. I was going along with the soup and it looked great. Tasted great. I just needed to allow it to cool so I could put it in the blender. With it you add the roasted beet and a cup of cubed tofu (I guess to give the bisque part). I plopped that beet in there and should have known better. I ended up with fuchsia soup! Maybe some of your husbands are like mine and have a hard time eating odd colored dishes. I knew when I saw it that he was going to be scared to try it. I broke the news before he came down for dinner, telling him that the soup is great...but is pink. (My god what movie is it where she makes the soup blue???) He admitted his fear in trying a Mylanta colored soup but did it and enjoyed it! (the second cup too!) So if you try this, don't put a beet in it.

Tomato Basil Bisque

The Candle Cafe Cookbook

Serves 6-8

1 small beet (read above and exclude this)

2 T EVOO

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 garlic gloves sliced thin

1/2 cup chopped celery

6 cups vegetable broth (I used 4)

12 small tomatoes chopped or 1 15 oz can whole tomatoes

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1 t dried thyme

1/2 t dried oregano

1 cup cubed tofu

S&P

If you want to do the beet, roast at 350 for an hour and a half and end up with fuchsia soup.

In soup pot heat EVOO and add onion, garlic and celery. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, basic, thyme, and oregano. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool (or stick it out in the freezing cold).

Transfer soup, beet (if you want), and tofu to food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Pour soup back into pot to reheat. Add S&P to taste.