Les anciennes soupes sont de retour – Soupe de légumes grillés et croutons de tofu…et 300 ème post!

Yes time flies and I just realized that this is my 300th post! I completely forgot the 100th and 200th…

I knew when I ordered a new washing machine and dryer that something was going to happen and something did happen…today’s delivery has been canceled because they were in back order. So I have to keep running the dryer six cycles to have the clothes dry. I bet PG&E are thrilled and my mom to lift me up, told me “you don’t need a dryer, it ruins all the clothes”. Very few people have a dryer in Europe, so for most Europeans it’s an unnecessary item…let’s not put all Europeans in the same basket, let’s just say for my mom…but I don’t know anyone who has a dryer among my friends and family.

I was somehow disappointed and bummed, and not in the mood for cooking long and complicated meals…and since I had all the ingredients without rushing to my Greek grocery store, there was no question, I was going to make this soup. I used to make it quite often, then for whatever unexplained reason, it stopped appearing on my table…let’s go back to old recipes, sometimes you forget how great they are. This soup is filled with vegetables and is absolutely a, and 100% vegan. The tofu croutons do add this chewy/crunchy texture that blends beautifully with a spoonful of fragrant creamy soup. You can serve this with a tapenade tartine, so the leftover tapenade from yesterday came in handy. The olives complement the flavors of the soup to perfection. For the broth quantities, you will have to adjust it to your tastes, some people like their soup thicker, some people prefer it thinner, so you will have to play around with it.

Ingredients for 4

  • 1 eggplant, sliced crosswise
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 zucchini, sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and sliced
  • 4 tomatoes, peeled and seedless
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tbs oregano
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • vegetable broth
  • extra firm tofu
  • flour
  • fleur de sel
  • pepper

Preparation

Grill bell pepper under broiler until the skin get charred. Peel and remove seeds. Cut in slices.

Place all the remaining vegetables in a tray, sprinkle with fleur de sel, pepper and olive oil and broil under broiler. Turn the vegetables both sides to grill them.

Mix bell peppers with the rest of the vegetables, add broth garlic, oregano and using a hand blender, mix to obtain a smooth purée.

For the tofu croutons, cut tofu in small cubes, coat them with flour, remove excess flour. Heat olive oil in a pan saute tofu at high temperature until both sides turn golden brown. Serve in bowls, add tofu croutons in the middle and drizzle with olive oil and extra oregano.

This soup can be eaten lukewarm or hot. If you like it hot, just heat it up on the stove for a few minutes before adding tofu.