Vegan Fresh Cream of Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Just because your vegan, doesn't mean you can't indulge in this quintessential American lunch.

Once in a while I get a craving for tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I also needed to use up some of my tomatoes from the garden. We've had a great crop this year and I don't want to waste any. So I keep coming up with recipes to use my tomatoes and this is my Tomato soup recipe.

For the grilled cheese, butter two pieces of vegan bread with vegan butter add vegan cheese in the middle. I like Daiya Cheddar it melts well and tastes great. Any unused I keep in the freezer, because it does tend to go off rather quickly, once opened.
Grill on one side until browned, then flip sandwich over and grill on the other side. Yum!

Tomato soup Ingredients
1 medium onion chopped
2 large celery stalks chopped
1/8 of medium cabbage chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Vegetable stock atleast several cuos, you may need more.
5 fresh tomatoes peeled and chopped (To peel fresh tomatoes, cut a small cross in the skin of each tomato, place them in a bowl and pour boiling water to cover. Leave for a minute or two, drain the water off and skin should peel off easily)

Saute all the above ingedients over medium heat for a few minutes then add some vegetable broth, put lid on pan and turn on low. Cook until vegetables are soft. Check often to prevent burning adding more vegetable stock as needed.

When vegetables are very soft, add

1/4 tsp powdered white pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon oregano (crush with your hand before adding to the pot)

Blend altogether until smooth.

Add one can of tomato sauce (I like Trader Joe's organic tomato sauce)

Blend again until silky smooth, adjust spices and add more broth if needed.

Serve with a dollop of vegan cream cheese.

This is the cheddar cheese I like to use.