We moved into our new house September 1st and ever since I’ve had a kitchen full of ripe, beautiful tomatoes, courtesy of my two little tomato plants and our new neighbour who welcomed us with an abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers from his garden. These babies are delicious! Of course, I didn’t want any of this fresh garden goodness to go to waste so I set out to make a simple tomato soup.

This soup is light, fresh and the perfect recipe to usher in the warming flavours of fall… while still holding onto a little bit of summer.

From a nutritional standpoint tomatoes are no slouch, they contain vitamin A, C and K, as well as B6, folate, thiamin and fibre. They’re also full of the carotenoid lycopene, which gives tomatoes their rich red colour. Lycopene is a potent antioxidant and has been known to lower the risks of cancer such as breast, prostate, and cardiovascular disease.

While I used Earth Balance to make this soup vegan, you can also use butter if you prefer. Fat is beneficial to fruits and vegetables that contain lycopene as it’s fat soluble, meaning that the fat in butter or oil will help your body absorb and metabolize this beneficial nutrient. If you plan to keep this soup vegan I recommend adding a drizzle of organic extra virgin olive oil before eating. To make this an even more nutrient-packed meal I like to add a few tablespoons of hemp hearts.

Roasted Bell Pepper & Tomato Soup

Vegan | Dairy-Free

5 Large Tomatoes, cut in half – I used a mix of Roma, field and cherry tomatoes
1 Medium Yellow Onion, cut into quarters
1 Bell Pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
1/2 Bulb of Garlic
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp. Earth Balance, or Butter
1 Tbsp. Flour
1/2 Cup Vegetable Stock
1 Tsp. Dried Oregano
1/2 Tsp. Dried Basil
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1/2 Tsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Salt and pepper

Topping:
Olive oil
Fresh basil
Green onion
Hemp hearts
Black Pepper
Hot pepper (optional)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment/wax paper. Place the tomatoes cut side down on one of the baking sheets and place the quartered onions and whole bell pepper on the other. Drizzle everything with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, toss. Place both baking sheets in the oven and roast for 25 – 30 minutes, flipping the bell pepper and onions halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Once cool to touch, skin the bell pepper and tomatoes, then roughly chop them and the onion. Set aside.

Melt the Earth Balance in a large pot over medium-low heat then add the flour, whisking to create a roux. Add the oregano and basil, and cook for 1 minute. Slowly start adding the vegetable stock to your roux, whisking to prevent lumps.

Add the tomatoes, bell pepper and onions to the pot and stir well. Add the almond milk and stir to combine. Using an immersion blender (or transfer to a regular blender) blend until smooth (return to pot). Add the red wine vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Simmer on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

To serve, top each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped fresh basil, sliced green onion, hemp hearts, and salt and pepper to taste. If you like a zip to your soup top with diced hot pepper or a splash of Sriracha.

This soup keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Note: You could easily make this recipe gluten-free by using a gluten-free flour like rice, quinoa or GF oats.