Tomato-Vegetable Bisque - gluten + dairy-free

This one's been rolling around my brain a while now. It was such a fun soup to make!

Chop the vegetables however you want - you don't need to spend a lot of time on this. Everything will be combined and smoothed out with your regular or immersion blender, at the end of the cooking time.

We don't want the vegetables overcooked, so begin with those that require the most heat time, the celery and carrots. Sauté them in coconut oil, with your seasonings*, either in a frying pan -or- covered in your crockpot on high.

Chop the onions and 1/2 of the green pepper for later.


This was an especially fun recipe for me since I gave away my 6 quart Nesco crockpot several years ago and I finally missed it. This is the inaugural event for my new little 4 quart gem - it's a keeper!

Once the vegetables have sizzled for a half hour or so, I added the onions and green pepper and continue sautéing another half hour. Next, a cup or two of homemade chicken bone broth, or vegetable broth if you're keeping this vegan, 3 bay leaves and all the tomatoes (56oz. total) go into the pot. Cook on high, or like I did since I made this late in the day, on low overnight until the vegetables are blendable. 

Remove the bay leaves, then blend until everything's smooth, check the flavors and make any needed adjustments to the seasonings. Add 1 can Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk and whisk that in until everything's combined. Heat again to serving temperature.

I stirred in some dry dill and topped with a sprinkle of sprouted pumpkin seeds to go with a really great sourdough grilled cheese sandwich. . .Cliché but so good! . .Lin

*Better Than Bouillon Chicken-or-Vegetable base, bay leaves, garlic salt, black+cayenne pepper, 1T sugar

Expanding The Bisque!

I made SO much of my most recent Tomato (Vegetable) Bisque, but after giving some away, I realized I wasn't ready to be done with it.   There was still about 3 cups left, so to stretch it, I added a 14.5oz can of regular stewed tomatoes, about ⅔c sour cream and 1t+ minced garlic from a jar. The kind preserved in EVOO. I hit this with my immersion blender, and made another 5 or 6 servings! I don't think it's possible to mess up a bisque, if you stick with good ingredients and spice combinations (this might be better than the original!)

I found a beautiful, crusty loaf of Pain au Levain, which is just a fancy French term for Sourdough Bread. I sliced that, cubed it, dried it a while in a 300° oven then tossed it in EVOO, 1+t jarred garlic and 1+t of ranch dressing powder. It actually sounds better than it was, but that's okay, each time I make these, I learn something new. This particular batch needed more seasoning - my previous one had too much! Just keep experimenting!  Happy Cooking Everyone! . .Lin

Another Tomato (vegetable) Bisque

I've discovered I really love bisques!

I was going to attempt a shrimp bisque today, but got sidetracked by all the vegetables I wanted to use, so I decided to wait on that for now. Today it's a 4 quart pot of tomato vegetable bisque.

• 3 stalks celery
• 2 big carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 3 colorful mini peppers
• 2T Moroccan EVOO

• 1t lemon pepper
• 1t fresh ground black pepper
• 2t Rosemary Seasoning *
• ~ or Italian seasoning
• 1T Chicken or Vegetable Soup Base
• 1T good quality dark balsamic vinegar

• 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 14.5oz can of stewed tomatoes

• 1c sour cream

Slice-chop all the vegetables into a 4 quart pot. Drizzle with the olive oil. Stir-saute' for about 10 minutes until they start to scent your kitchen and turn translucent. Add the seasoning group of ingredients and continue to stir for a few more minutes before adding the tomatoes and 2-4c water. Cover and simmer on low heat for another 20 minutes. Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender. Cool for an hour, then stir in the sour cream. Serve topped with croutons, dill, sunflower seeds and a dab of sour cream. . .Lin

EDIT: Tomato Vegetable Bisque

I've often said I think cayenne pepper is about 10x more potent than black pepper. Just my theory, but a long-held one. You'd think by now I'd have learned to be more careful with it.

The recipe below turned out so good. . .except for the level of heat. I'm sure most people would be fine with it, but it didn't want the heat-spiciness to be the main factor, Tomato Bisque should be all about the vegetables, tomatoes and cream.

So, after a couple bowls of it the original way, today I decided to fix it. I added a can of plain, diced tomatoes, 1T basil pesto and 1-2T of a strong, syrupy, dark balsamic vinegar.

Now it's the way it's supposed to be.  Mmmm. Go easy on the cayenne pepper! 😉 Lin

  

Tomato Vegetable Bisque

Chop the following into a 3 quart soup pot:

• 2 Carrots
• several stalks of Celery
• 1 lg. Purple Shallot
• 1 sm. Purple Onion
• 1 med. Cipollini Onion
• 2 tiny Bell Peppers

Sauté in a couple tablespoons of EVOO for just a few minutes, then add the following.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes then uncover and continue to simmer another 10 minutes.

• 1½ cold filtered water
• 3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
• 1T Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning
• 1T Better Than Bouillon - vegetable flavor
• ½t finely ground black and cayenne pepper

Remove the rosemary sprigs, add 28oz. of Crushed-Diced Tomatoes and 1T sugar then blend with an immersion blender.  I didn't use the smaller can of stewed tomatoes.

Simmer another 10 minutes then take off the burner and let cool half an hour. Add 1c Half & Half, Heavy Cream, or Sour Cream and half a bunch of fresh Cilantro Leaves and Genovese Basil and blend again. Heat just until it bubbles then serve. 

Mmmm this is such a good Fall Soup! . .Lin