Comfort Food Recipe: Creamy Tomato Soup

- Garlic. One of my favorite spices, garlic provides antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a terrific source of boosting your immune system in colder weather. It also offers up vitamins B6 and C, and adds a delicious taste to any savory meal. To get the most nutritional benefit out of garlic, chop it up and let it sits for about 10 minutes before cooking with it, as the air exposure lets the allicin (the active component of garlic) form, which is what provides many of the healthy benefits of garlic!

- Beans. A terrific, low-cost way to add protein to your meals is through beans! Beans also give you a good amount of fiber, so important as we get older, and have a neutral taste so you can use them in so many ways. In this recipe, they add a creaminess to the soup without using dairy!

- Roasted red peppers. Red peppers are a good source of vitamins C, A and beta-carotene...important antioxidants that help to promote a healthy immune system and vision and eye health. In this recipe, the roasting gives them an extra smokiness and depth that really brings out the other flavors in the soup.

I hope you try this soup recipe and find it to be comforting this winter. You can see even more recipes when you join my membership - get recipes, workouts and more to help YOU stay healthy this winter!

Let's live FIT, HAPPY and HEALTHY - together!!

Denise

Creamy Tomato Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried crushed rosemary
1 (15 oz) can no-salt-added whole or diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can cannellini or white beans (choose no-salt-added or low-sodium beans and rinse and drain well before use)
1/2 cup jarred roasted red pepper, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 Tbsp. aged balsamic vinegar
3 slices whole-grain bread (use gluten-free bread if following a gluten-free diet)
3 slices reduced-fat cheddar cheese (about 3/4 oz. each)

Instructions

1. In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and rosemary and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, beans, roasted peppers, and broth.
4. Blend the mixture in batches in a stand mixer (or use an immersion blender to blend it in the pot).
5. Return the pureed soup to the pot. Bring the soup to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar.
7. Preheat the broiler.
8. Toast the bread. Top each piece with 1 slice cheese. Broil for 1 minute or until cheese is melted.
9. Serve 1 1/2 toasts with 2 cups soup.