Easy Vegan Tomato Soup + Grilled Cheese With Apples

Tomato Soup 

Ingredients: 

  • 2 boxes of cherry tomatoes 

  • 2 white onions, chopped

  • 3 garlic cloves, root cut off 

  • ¼ cup of olive oil, for roasting the vegetables

  • 1 ½ cans of full fat coconut milk OR creamy oat milk (if you don’t like coconut milk) 

  • 2 cups of vegetable broth 

  • 1 box of fresh basil OR 2 tbsp dried basil 

  • 1 tbsp white miso paste 

  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

  • 1 tbsp salt (add more if needed) 

  • 1 tsp red chili flakes (if you like it spicy)

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Add cherry tomatoes, chopped white onions, and garlic cloves to two baking sheets. 

  2. Add the olive oil and salt to all of your vegetables for roasting. Use your hands to massage the oil and salt all over. Be sure to get a lot of oil on the garlic to caramelize it. If you are using fresh basil, add the basil here with the vegetables and massage oil on the leaves to roast as well. 

  3. Bake the vegetables for 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes’ skin is peeling off

  4. Once the vegetables are roasted, add half of the plant milk, half of the broth, and miso paste to the blender and pulverize everything until smooth. I didn’t have a high-powered blender so I had to do this a few times to reach a creamy, smooth consistency. 

  5. Place a large pot on the stove on medium heat and pour the tomato mixture in. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot (the spices, yeast, chili flakes, broth, and milk). Allow the mixture to boil then reduce to a simmer. 

  6. Give the soup a taste and add more sugar or salt if needed. Add sugar if it’s too acidic and more salt if it needs more flavor. 

Mushroom Apple Grilled Cheese

Ingredients: 

  • 2 pieces of sourdough bread 

  • 1 tbsp butter (you can use vegan butter if desired) 

  • ½ cup of shredded cheese (I used violife’s vegan cheddar) 

  • 5 apple slices, thinly sliced 

  • 1 small handful of spinach

  • ¼ cup of mushrooms of choice

  • 1 tbsp oil

  1. On a large pan at medium heat, add your oil and mushrooms then allow them to sear undisturbed for about 2 minutes. Add a dash of salt then remove from the pan once they’re browned and wilted nicely. 

  2. In that same pan, add butter and swirl it around to evenly coat the surface. Lay out your bread slices and allow them to cook for 1 minute. While they are cooking, add the cheese, mushrooms, spinach, and apples on one side of the bread. The order I followed is: half of the cheese, spinach, apples, mushrooms, and the remaining half of the cheese. 

  3. Fold the sandwich together and add a tablespoon of water on the side, then cover with a lid for 2 minutes to steam the sandwich and allow the cheese to melt. 

  4. Once each side is browned and crispy and the inside is melted, remove from heat. Dip into your tomato bisque and enjoy!

DVFBryn Yasui