Vegan & Gluten-Free Tomato Soup (Basil, or Curried)

Did you know that Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup has wheat in it?  I didn't.  (I kind of wonder if the presence of wheat was always the the case .... because I wouldn't have used the soup for the purpose I did had I been aware before.)  Hmmmm.  But I certainly could have just made a mistake or overlooked it.  Yikes!

Anyways, the problem wasn't brought to my attention until we were in the middle of making a batch of soup for almost 200 people (which was supposed to be both Vegan and Gluten-Free) at Burning Man this year .... when one of my staff noticed the ingredient that truly has no business being there.  Luckily, it was early enough in our process that we could pivot and make a separate smaller pot of actually Gluten-Free soup for the people who needed it, and continued on with the criminal (but still Vegan) version for everyone else.

All of this left me wanting to figure out a new Tomato Soup recipe, because if I don't have to make separate or additional pots for dietary restrictions -- i.e. if I can use one recipe that serves everyone's needs -- that's what I want to do.  So, here's the recipe I wrote and tested over the past few days (including flavor variations).  Both are super quick and easy.

TOMATO-BASIL SOUP (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:

• Four 6-ounce or Two 12-ounce cans of Tomato Paste
• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) of Coconut Milk
• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) of Almond Milk
• Two 14.5-ounce cans of (Fire-Roasted if you can find them) Diced Tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons of (Penzeys Roasted, if you can get it) Garlic Powder
• 2 teaspoons of Onion Powder
• 2 teaspoons of Dried Basil
• 2 teaspoons of Paprika
• 2 teaspoons of Dried Oregano
• 2 teaspoons of Dried Parsley
• 2 teaspoons of Kosher Salt (you'll probably want to use less if your Tomato Paste already has salt in it)
• 2 teaspoons of freshly-cracked Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot.
2. Whisk together until the Tomato Paste and Coconut Milk smooth out.
3. Simmer (whisking occasionally) until you're ready to serve (but at least 30 minutes so all the flavors have time to marry well).

Notes:
You can also throw in some chiffonaded fresh basil for an additional pop of crispness.

Makes 8 cups.

CURRIED TOMATO SOUP (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:

• Four 6-ounce or Two 12-ounce cans of Tomato Paste
• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) of Coconut Milk
• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) of Almond Milk
• Two 14.5-ounce cans of (Fire-Roasted if you can find them) Diced Tomatoes
• 6 teaspoons of Kosher Salt (you'll probably want to use less if your Tomato Paste already has salt in it)
• 8 teaspoons of Penzeys Salt-Free Sweet Curry Powder; or whatever Curry Powder you have and like (just be aware if yours already has salt in it - Penzeys doesn't - that you may want to reduce the amount of Kosher Salt that you add.)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot.
2. Whisk together until the Tomato Paste and Coconut Milk smooth out.
3. Simmer (whisking occasionally) until you're ready to serve (but at least 30 minutes so all the flavors have time to marry well).
4. Garnish with a little sprinkle of extra Curry Powder.

Notes:

Makes 8 cups.

This post is an original recipe that I created from scratch.

My goal is to share my love of food simply -- without all the fluff (unless it's Marshmallow Fluff!), long winded stories, excessive and repetitive photos, or incessant rambling that I see on other blogs.  I personally tend to skip over all that, just scrolling straight to the bottom in hopes of finding the recipe right away.  Therefore, I hope you appreciate the brevity above.

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