Cold Weather Food

Now that the weather is cooler and the days are getting shorter, I am finding more time to cook and document it. Yesterday Rich and I got together with some friends and made one of my new favorites, vegan tomato soup with goat cheese grilled cheese and pesto sandwiches. It was perfect for a chilly, Halloween, post-hurricane day. Both are quite easy.

Soup

2 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

½ onion

2 tbsps mixed dried Italian herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme)

3-4 pounds of fresh tomatoes

1 tbsp pepper

1 large jar of tomato puree

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 cup veggie broth

1 bunch of fresh basil

Method

1. Put a little olive oil in a pan and sauté the shallots, garlic, onion and dried herbs over medium heat.
2. Add chopped fresh tomatoes. Bring the pot with the tomatoes to medium-high and let cook with the lid on for 15-20 minutes stirring frequently.
3. When the tomatoes cook down, add pepper, tomato puree, diced tomatoes, and veggie broth. Let this cook on medium heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the bunch of fresh basil and let simmer on low for another 10 minutes.
5. Top with some fresh basil, a little thinly sliced tomato and breadcrumbs.
This soup is very tasty and surprisingly creamy for a vegan soup!

Sandwich

Whole-wheat sourdough (Bread Alone makes a very good one)

Pesto (I cheated and used store bought this time, but you can easily make your own)

Sliced tomato (in the picture I used a green heirloom tomato)

Goat cheese with herbs (you could make this recipe vegan by submitting Daiya cheese)

A little butter or Earth Balance for the pan

Method

1. Spread the goat cheese and pesto on the sandwich.
2. Add a few thinly sliced tomatoes to the sandwich.
3. Place a little butter in the pan and cook the sandwich on both sides with the lid on to melt the goat cheese.
Serve with the soup!