Real Food Friday Feast - Tomato Soup

I LOVE tomatoes. I can eat a tomato like I eat an apple. That's how much I love them:) But one of my favourite ways to enjoy tomato is in tomato soup. The only problem is that I usually can't eat it because it often has cream in it and I'm lactose intolerant. So I went on the hunt for an easy recipe that would taste good without cream and then I did some experimenting.

If you don't eat many tomatoes, now is the time to start. They are REALLY good for you. Here's why:

• One cup of raw tomatoes is a great source of Vitamins A, C, K, folate and potassium. They also provide thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus and copper, all of which are necessary for good health.
• As with other fruits and vegetables, they provide protection against high blood pressure, high cholesterol, strokes, and heart disease.
• Beta-carotene, which is also found in carrots and sweet potatoes, helps protect your skin against sun damage. The lycopene in tomatoes also makes skin less sensitive to UV light damage, which causes fine lines and wrinkles.
• The vitamin K and calcium in tomatoes are both very good for strengthening and repairing bones and lycopene also has been shown to improve bone mass, which will prevent, and fight, osteoporosis.
• Lycopene (again!) can reduce the risk of several cancers, including prostate, cervical, mouth, pharynx, throat, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectal, prostate and ovarian cancer. Vitamins A and C are antioxidants and fight the free radicals which cause cell damage.
• Tomatoes are a very good source of chromium, which helps to regulate blood sugar.
• The vitamin A that tomatoes contain can improve vision and help prevent night blindness. Recent research shows that eating tomatoes can help reduce the risk of macular degeneration which is a serious and irreversible eye condition. Vitamin A also works to make your hair strong and shiny.
• Tomatoes can help prevent kidney stones and gallstones. 
• If you are one of the millions of people who deal with mild to moderate chronic pain (such as from arthritis or back pain), tomatoes may be a natural pain-killer for you. They are high in bioflavonoids and carotenoids, which are known anti-inflammatory agents. Chronic pain usually goes hand in hand with chronic inflammation, so attacking the inflammation is a good way to fight the chronic pain. That's why many conventional medications that fight pain are actually anti-inflammatory medications.
• Adding tomatoes to your meals can help you lose weight because they are good "filler" food. They contain lots of fibre and water so they can bulk up a meal without adding loads of calories.

By the way, lycopene, which I mentioned a few times above, becomes available when you cook the tomatoes for a bit. That is why tomato soup is a GREAT cancer fighter and preventer.

So, here's how you make it:

Tomato soup

Ingredients

3 large ripe tomatoes
2 carrots

1 medium sized sweet potato
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
olive oil/coconut oil/duck fat or butter
1.5 litres bone broth
1 Tbs organic tomato paste
1 small bunch fresh basil
Mineral salt (himalayan rock salt or sea salt)
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Roughly slice the carrots
• Peel and roughly chop the onions
• Peel and slice the garlic
• Put a large pot on medium heat and add about 2 Tbs olive oil
• Add all your chopped and sliced ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon
• Cook for around 10 to 15 minutes keeping the lid on but slightly skewed until the carrots have softened but are still holding their shape, and the onion is lightly golden
• Add the bone broth to the pot
• Roughly chop up the sweet potato and add to the pot
• Bring to the boil then allow to simmer for 10 minutes
• Add the tomatoes and tomato paste
• Give it a good stir and bring to the boil again
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on
• Remove the pot from the heat
• Season with salt and pepper and add the basil leaves
• Use a hand blender or a normal blender to make the soup smooth

Don't panic when it comes out orange. Tomato soup is usually orange unless you add some kind of colouring OR you only use tinned tomatoes instead of whole ones. Even then, it still won't be as red as you think. The more "real" your food is, the better. Tinned foods tend to contain BPA so I'd avoid them. 

The sweet potato is optional. I added it when I realised my soup was thinner than I wanted. It's optional but I can tell you it makes it taste yummy! The other alternative is to only use 1 litre of bone broth but I seriously think your soup will be lacking something without the sweet potato. It takes the slight acidic edge off that tomatoes can sometimes have and just smooths it off perfectly.

Enjoy!