Diet: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Paleo, Pescatarian, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Serves: 4
Total Time: 25 minutes

Description

There’s definitely something about homemade soup as opposed to that from a tin. No artificial preservatives, chemicals, just wholesome fresh vegetables where you can really taste the goodness.

Soups are definitely a go-to if we are feeling a little under the weather, when chewing can even feel like a bit too much effort. It’s such an easy and warming way for the body to get some vital nutrients and vitamins which we so desperately need when we are feeling unwell.

This soup is largely made up of tomatoes, and what would a recipe catalogue be without a homemade tomato soup recipe?!

Tomatoes and red capsicum pepper come from the nightshade family called Solanaceae. Foods are grouped into this family based on them producing an alkaloid compound called solanine.

Tomatoes are such a great food to get more of in our diet, and luckily for us tomatoes are so readily available with them often being used as a key component within sauces and salads. Regular consumption of tomatoes has been associated with decreased risk of chronic degenerative diseases. Epidemiological findings confirm that this is due to the different antioxidants such as carotenoids, lycopene, vitamin C, vitamin E and flavonoids that are to thank for the observed health benefits of tomatoes (Frusciante, 2017).

Tomatoes have also been associated with having a reduced risk of inflammation, cancer, chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases (i.e coronary heart disease, hypertension), diabetes, and obesity (Raiola, 2014).

Lastly, combining tomatoes with red pepper provides an even greater abundance of diverse carotenoids and the inclusion of prebiotic foods in the form of onion and garlic are fantastic for feeding those friendly microbes in our gut!

Ingredients

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 white onion (diced)
• 2 cloves garlic (diced)
• 1 pint vegetable stock (check the label if you have an allergy or intolerance)
• A dollop of coconut yoghurt to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 185 degrees and place in your red bell pepper for 20 minutes (until the skin starts to brown).
2. Meanwhile, heat up the coconut oil in a large pan and add the onion and garlic. Gently fry for 5 minutes.
3. Once the onions have gone slightly golden, add the pint of vegetable stock and tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer with the pan lid on.
4. After 20 minutes in the oven (once the bell pepper looks brown and roasted), remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Once cool enough to handle, peel off the browned outer layer and deseed the pepper.
5. Add the pepper to the pan and allow to soften in the juices for a few minutes.
6. Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
7. Serve out into bowls and add a teaspoon of coconut yoghurt into each bowl if you wish to add a creamier taste.

 

References:

Frusciante, L. Carli, P. Ercolano, M.R. et al. (2007). ‘Antioxidant Nutritional Quality of Tomato’. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 51 (5), pp. 609-617, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17427261 (Accessed 11 August 2018).

Raiola, A. Rigano, M. Calafiore, R. et al. (2014). ‘Enhancing the Health-Promoting Effects of Tomato Fruit for Biofortified Food’, Mediators of Inflammation, pp. 1-16, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3972926/#B2 (Accessed 11 March 2018).