Day 13: Cream of Tomato Soup from The Oh She Glows Cookbook
Ulcerative colitis has been really kicking my butt for the last few days. Most of the time what I eat doesn’t have much of an effect on my symptoms either way, but today I was in more pain than usual, home sick from work, and looking for something that was easy to digest and lower in fiber than a meal I would typically eat. I also wanted something delicious and comforting. This pureed soup from The Oh She Glows Cookbook sounded like a good plan, plus a low-fiber grilled cheese on sourdough.
This recipe requires soaked cashews to make a cashew cream base with vegetable broth. Cashews are a staple of vegan cooking and most cookbooks will tell you to soak cashews for hours before you need to use them. Well, sometimes (every time) I don’t plan this far ahead, and I imagine other people have the same problem. Also, I don’t make cashew cream often enough to justify having cashews soaking at all times. I think it should be mentioned in more cookbooks that you can also just boil the cashews, which takes about 15 minutes, and have cashews that are totally soft enough to blend smoothly. So let it be known: you can boil the cashews!!!
This recipe was pretty easy and took about 45 minutes total, most of which was just simmering time. There is an accompanying recipe for crispy chickpeas which sounded lovely, and I may try those next time I make the soup. Seasonings and flavors were all just right, and the mixture of canned tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and tomato paste gives the soup a rich and deep tomato flavor. The cashew cream makes it a bit more indulgent and comforting which is exactly what I was hoping for. Paired with a grilled cheese using Field Roast Chao cheese, this was a great meal, especially for a sick day.
