Homemade Vegan Tomato Soup and vegan/gf grilled cheese

I love to cook! It is a joy I found later in life, especially since becoming vegan. So from time to time I think I'll sprinkle in some recipes or food thoughts into this blog and see how it feels.

One of my partner, Jo's favorite meals is tomato soup with grilled cheese. So when our plans to visit her favorite restaurant (Ethiopian food) were spoiled (they're closed on Tuesdays), I wanted to do something to make her feel better. One way I love to show her care is by cooking for her and what better way than to make one of her favorite foods (and because who isn't comforted by tomato soup!).

Cooking vegan/gf is hard, so we're forced to be pretty creative. Most of the time we find great success and this recipe is no different! I freakin' killed it with this one so I hope you enjoy!

• 1 cup raw cashews
• olive oil
• 1/2 medium/large onion, diced (I err on the side of less)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (fresh has a stronger flavor and more is probably better)
• 2 x 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 x 14oz can coconut milk
• 1 cup vegetable broth (I use bouillon cubes and water to save on waste)
• salt
• pepper
• basil
• nutritional yeast

• GF bread (they sell it at the grocery store now in little sealed bags)
• Vegan cheese (I prefer smoked provolone. Violife is pretty damn good)
• A little oil (we use spray avocado oil)

1. Soak the cashews in water (they will get pretty big so make sure they are covered by at least an inch of water) for a couple of hours. I've soaked for far less time and it's been fine, but if you don't have much time you should soak in hot or boiling water or you can forgo cashews entirely.
2. Cook the onion in a decent sized pot in olive oil on medium heat for a few minutes. Once cooked nicely, toss in the garlic (I use my lovely garlic press) and cook for only a min.
3. After that garlic aroma is filling your nostrils with pleasure, add in all of your liquid: tomatoes, coconut milk, and broth. Add in a little salt and pepper, as well as some basil and nutritional yeast to let the flavors combine. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for around 20 min. If you want thicker soup (which I always do) leave it uncovered.
4. After 20 min your kitchen should be smelling fucking amazing, at which point you can strain the cashews. If you have an immersion blender, throw those babies in the pot and go hog wild with the blender (and by hog wild I mean, be very careful as the soup is super hot and messy. Wear an apron). If you only have a traditional blender, blend the cashews in the blender and add a few cups of soup. Once combined, pour the mixture back into the pot.
5. After you blend in your cashews, you can start on your grilled cheeses! We make them super simple. We slap a couple of slices of cheese in between the two pieces of bread and spray a little oil on the outsides. We're blessed to have an air fryer and they take about 4 minutes on each side at 350deg or so.
6. Lastly, taste the soup and add seasonings as needed, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, basil.
7. Serve and make your tummy, your friends and/or your family happy (but wait a minute, it's very hot)! And please for god's sake dip the grilled cheese into the soup!