Quick Tomato Soup

How was everyone's Christmas?  I hope you enjoyed time with family and had save travels.  This year, Kevin and I went to his family's in Sequim, WA.  No White Christmas to be found, unfortunately, but still a lovely time.

I got quite a few kitchen goodies over Christmas from my parents, Kevin's family, and Kevin, including a large glass measuring bowl (8 cups! with a lid!), two cookbooks (Thug Kitchen and The New Fast Food), a Washington shaped cutting board, a large Kitchenaid mesh strainer, and a new pizza baking stone.  I'm so excited to try out and use all my new items....

But for now, we are spending some time relaxing and watching football.  (Have I mentioned that I'm in the Championship game for my Fantasy Football league?!)  So today, I needed a quick recipe that I could whip up in less than 15 minutes during the morning game's halftimes.  Since we have been traveling a bit, our fridge is a little bare, and no way was I going to run out to the grocery store. ;)

Quick Tomato Soup
Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:
        1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups pre-cooked)
        1 can diced tomatoes
        1.5 cups water (more to thin)
        1/4 cup raw cashews
        2 cloves garlic
        1 roasted red bell pepper
        1 tsp cumin
        1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
        black pepper to taste

Instructions:
1.)  In a high speed blender, blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy, adding water 1/2 cup at a time until desired consistency.
2.)  Heat the soup using one of the following methods:
Blender heated option (Blendtek, Vitamix, etc.):  Continue to blend on high until the soup is warm and steamy.
Stovetop option:  Pour desired amount of soup into a saucepan and heat on medium heat on the stovetop.
3.)  Store leftovers in an airtight container.  When reheating leftovers, you may need to add more water to thin.

Amy's Notes:
This soup is wonderfully creamy, and surprisingly filling.  Feel free to top with fresh herbs, green onions, nutritional yeast, etc.

Note that there are two different options to heat the soup once it is blended.  Those with a crazy-powerful blender will be able to heat the soup by blending in just a few minutes.  I have a blender that is great for making things creamy, but doesn't quite have that umph, so I heated mine on the stove.

One thing I love about this soup, other than how quickly it comes together, is that it doesn't require any cutting or chopping.  Just toss the ingredients in, blend and yum!

After finishing the soup, I realized that it would also be an excellent pasta sauce if it isn't thinned by water too much.  This soup would also be very easy to freeze.

*Sorry for the untidy photo.
 I got about halfway through my bowl when
I realized that I NEEDED to share this with you guys. :)

Health and Happiness,

Amy