ROASTED CHERRY TOMATO SOUP

I love to make this soup when there are lots of cherry tomatoes in the garden. It freezes well and gives me a healthy option to reheat at lunch. You could add left over chicken to make this more of a main dish.

• 5 tsp avocado oil
• 2-3 carrots, sliced 1/8 – 1/4″ thick
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1.5 tsp minced garlic
• 8 cups liquid (see notes below)
• 1 cup uncooked wild rice (see notes below)
• Salt if needed (see notes below)
• 1 bay leaf (2 if small)
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes , halved

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large soup pot. Add the carrots, fennel, pepper, and onion. Cook stirring frequently until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook another minute until incorporated. Add the water/broth, rice, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is cooked, about 50 minutes.

Heat the oven to 475°F. Toss the tomatoes with the remaining oil and place cut side down on a large rimmed cookie sheet. Be sure the rim is sufficient, you don’t want to lose the juices, those will go into the soup. Bake the tomatoes until the skins are shriveled and they are just starting to brown. About 20 minutes, but watch them carefully.

When the tomatoes are cooked, add them to the soup. Stir to combine and heat through. Remove the bay leaf prior to serving.

Notes:

The 8 cups of liquid can be half broth (I like beef broth in this soup, but veggie or chicken would work too) and the rest water. Or, I’ve used 2 cups of left over au jus beef broth and used water for the other 6 cups. Adjust your salt accordingly.

I love wild rice, so I have added a large amount. If you want to be more diverse you could add 1/2 wild rice and add left over brown rice or quinoa at the end. Be creative.