anunrefinedvegan

At 10:30 am I opened the refrigerator to see what our lunch options were and, depressed by the selection of leftovers, I decided lunch that chilly and windy day called for a big bowl of soup.  I had just clipped out a tomato soup recipe from Cooking Light which used mainly pantry ingredients that I had on hand and also promised to be quick to prepare.  By noon, we had steaming, smokey, tangy and comforting bowls of tomato soup in front of us.  The garnishes, while simple, really add to this recipe.

Tomato Soup with Roasted Chickpeas
3-4 Servings

1 red bell pepper, seeded & halved lengthwise
8 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped, divided
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup vegetable broth, divided
1 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
pinch ground pepper
1/2 cup almond milk
1 28 oz. can, no-salt added crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/8 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1 15.5 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. slivered almonds, toasted

Preheat broiler.  Flatten bell pepper and place, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Broil for about 8 minutes or until blackened.  Put into a bag and let stand for 10 minutes.  Peel and roughly chop.

Reduce oven to 450F.

Heat 1/4 cup vegetable broth in a medium-sized saucepan.  Add about 2/3 of the chopped garlic and the onion to the saucepan and cook over medium-heat until the onion is soft and most of the broth has cooked off.  Add the almond milk and the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  Add the paprika, the Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce and ground pepper.  Simmer for 20 minutes and then let cool for about 10 minutes.

While the tomato soup cooks, combine the remaining garlic cloves with 1/4 cup vegetable broth, garbanzo beans, pinch salt & pepper, cumin and Liquid Smoke in a baking dish.  Roast for about 12-20 minutes, stirring once.  Most of the broth should be cooked off and the garbanzo beans should be brown.

To finish the soup, add the bell pepper and the tomato mixture to a blender or a food processor (or use a stick blender right in the soup pot) and process until smooth.

To serve, ladle ~ 3/4 cup soup into four bowls, top with garbanzo bean mixture, toasted almonds and chopped parsley.  Serve.

(The Cooking Light version used olive oil to roast the chickpeas and to cook the onions and also had country ham listed in the ingredients.  So…I employed Liquid Smoke to get that dusky flavor for the chickpeas.  Almond milk replaced the heavy cream and Bragg Liquid Aminos added the salt I wanted in the soup and helped tone down the acid of the tomatoes.)