Soup on a Rainy Day

I'm one of those people who always prefer sunny or windy days over rainy ones.  However, yesterday was an exception because earlier in the week, I had decided to make roasted tomato soup paired with grilled cheese sandwiches for the weekend and soup is always great to eat on a rainy day.  My juice was a Blueberry Kiwi juice which was a pretty refreshing way to finish off my meal.   

I took the recipe for the tomato soup from Smitten Kitchen, but added extra tomatoes and garlic.  I found all the ingredients at the Micronesia Mall Pay-less Supermarket, but I'm sure you can get the ingredients at other grocery stores.  It was my first time making tomato soup and I was happy to discover it was really easy to make.  I also love how it's vegan.  

I tried to make the grilled cheese sandwiches vegan, but I cannot find vegan wheat bread on Guam.  If I do, I will definitely post it.  I did what I could with the sandwiches though and used vegan butter and cheese.  I have extremely high expectations for vegan cheese, and am very pleased with Daiya cheddar style shreds.  It met both my texture and taste standards.  I also tried, for the first time, Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread and it sure fooled the dairy lover in me.  I am so excited to bake using this butter!  I found both at the Micronesia Mall Pay-less Supermarket.         

This was the second time I made the Blueberry Kiwi juice, which is a spin-off of the Blackberry Kiwi juice found on the Reboot Your Life website.  This is one of those rare juices that just has fruits in it, and I savor every drop.  If pretty in pink pineapples existed, it would taste just like this juice.  

         

Roasted Tomato Soup

Serves 6 medium-sized bowls

4 pounds roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 large cloves of garlic, unpeeled

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed pepper

4 cups vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Wrap garlic cloves in a tight foil packet.  Place tomatoes, cut side up, on a large baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  I used 1 teaspoon of salt.  Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil.  Add foil packet of garlic to tray.  Roast until tomatoes are brown and tender about 1 hour.  Garlic will be very tender.  Cool for 10 minutes.

Unwrap garlic packet and peel cloves.  Transfer cloves, tomatoes and any accumulated juices to a blender or food processor and pulse machine on and off until tomatoes are a chunky puree.  Transfer tomatoes to medium pot and add thyme, crushed red pepper and stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 25 minutes.  Remove from heat and adjust seasonings to taste.  

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Serves 1

2 slices wheat bread

4 tablespoons vegan cheese

1 teaspoon vegan butter

I don't want to go into detail on how to make grilled cheese sandwiches, because each person has their own methodology to it, but I do want to mention that I spread half a teaspoon of vegan butter on one side of each bread slice.  

Blueberry Kiwi Juice

Serves 4 (each serving is 16 ounces)

1 pineapple, core removed and roughly cubed

1 1/2 cups blueberries

5 kiwi fruits

1 d'anjou pear

30 mint leaves

2 cups water

Juice all fruits and mint.  When finished, add water.