Tomato fennel orange soup

I first had tomato fennel orange soup from Savor Soup House, a fantastic food cart with great vegan and gluten-free options. Although the flavors of fennel and orange are subtle, what they do to the soup is not. This is not the heavy, comforting rainy day tomato soup we grew up with. This is a bright, sunshiny soup for spring time.

While I wasn't able to completely recreate the soup from Savor Soup House, this recipe makes up for it with few ingredients and speed. You'll have plenty of time to make grilled cheese sandwiches (on homemade bread!) while the ingredients are cooking or during the final simmer.

Tofu or tempeh bacon and a bit of spinach or parsley make a pretty and nutritious garnish.

Tomato fennel orange soup

vegan, gluten-free

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed or diced
• 1 (28 oz) can tomatoes
  
  I like the least amount of ingredients-- no added herbs or salt. Diced or whole doesn't matter.
• 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 2 cups vegetable stock

Directions

• Saute onion in olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat, about 5 minutes.
• Add fennel and onion, cover, let swear for 5 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients, but be spare with the salt and pepper. You can add more at the end.
• Stir and heat through, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer to the blender, in batches if there's too much to fit. I like to blend on low for 1 minute, but if you want smoother you can blend higher and if you want chunkier you can blend only half the mixture.
• Pour back into the stock pot and simmer low for about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.