Vegan MoFo Day 20 - Easy Tomato Bisque

Vegan MoFo Day 20 - Easy Tomato Bisque

How is it day 20 already?? This month is flying by and Autumn is almost officially here. The weather in my part of Oregon really feels like fall and that puts me in the mood for soup! 

And what could be better than a minimal effort tasty tomato bisque? I can't remember who I got the basis for this recipe from in order to credit them. It was someone I know online, not a book or a blog. I think maybe from Dr Fuhrman's group. I am sorry. Whoever you are - if it's you let me know and I'll give you proper credit!

Tomato Bisque

1 jar tomato sauce (I use a basil sauce)

1/2 cup raw cashews

1-2 cups water

basil - fresh or dried - to taste

Everything about this recipe is very forgiving. I rarely measure anything in it. Use 1/2 cup cashews or use 1 cup. Or 1/4 a cup. It will still taste good! You decide how creamy and how thick you want the soup. Add a little vodka and put it on pasta and now you have a vodka sauce. Really, you can't do this recipe wrong.

But here are the general directions: Soak the cashews in enough water to cover them. How long? I usually do either 20 minutes or maybe a couple hours if I've started doing other things and forgotten about them. If you're having an emergency soup need, skip the soaking. 

Dump the cashew water, then puree the cashews with 1/2 to 1 cup water in your high powered Vita-mix. Don't have one of those? But I thought you were vegan? Just kidding! A regular blender will be fine especially if you did the soaking. 

Once the cashews are well blended, pour in the jar of tomato sauce (or only pour in half and reserve the rest until the end to make it more chunky). Also add a big handful or two of fresh basil or 1 to 12 teaspoons of dried basil. You have all the power in how much basil! Keep adding until it tastes good to you. I like a lot of basil! But I am joking about the 12 teaspoons. That's probably too much!

Your soup probably needs a bit more water. Or not - you decide! I add water to the mostly empty sauce jar to rinse it and get the rest of the sauce in the blender. This also gets you ready to reuse or recycle your jar. Go you! Now give your soup a last little blend. Only briefly if you want it a little chunky. Or go for smooth and run the blender until it heats your soup - if you've got one of those expensive, fancy pants blenders. If not, transfer your soup to the stove or microwave and heat until it's warm/hot. 

There it is! Have you ever heard of an easier vegan soup recipe? I mean, really. Have you? I'd like to hear about it! 

What trust looks like.