Great Northern Cream of Tomato Soup with Chopped Kale

I've tried a few different tomato soups and even made my own.  I still wanted something different and I took ideas from a few different recipes and combined it with one of my own. 

I was also tired of adding soy milk to everything.  Not that I don't enjoy the flavor, it's just after a while, everything begins to have that same base flavor.

So here's what I came up with and it's the best tasting I've had so far.  I'm sure there are other tomato soup recipes that are just as good and even better.

1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 carrots, chopped
1/4 cup V8 juice, low sodium
3 lbs. roma tomatoes halved
2 cups water
1 cup V8 juice, low sodium
*2 Tablespoons tomato powder - recipe below
 1/2 cup chia seeds
1 jar roasted red peppers with liquid
3 cups white northern beans
fresh basil to taste
fresh garlic chives to taste
3 large kale leaves, chopped
Black pepper to taste or crushed red pepper flakes

In a large dutch oven pot, saute the onion, garlic and carrots in  the 1/4 cup V8 juice a little at a time as if you are water sauteing stirring and adding the V8 for about 8 minutes on med/high heat.

Add the halved tomatoes to the pot with the water, the 1 cup V8 juice and the tomato powder.  Simmer on low until they cook down and some of the liquid has cooked off, at least an hour.

Add the soup to the vitamix and blend with the chia seeds and roasted red peppers.  Only fill the blender half way when blending hot soup.  The chia seeds add to the creaminess and also work nicely as a thickener.  If you find your soup is too thick, add a little more V8 or water.

Add the northern beans.  You could use any bean really.  I'm going to make this soup again this week and try it with pinto beans for variation and use the crushed red pepper.  I'll probably top the soup with some chopped avocado at serving. 

Chiffonade the kale after removing the stems.  Then chop as you would parsley and add to the soup.  Upon serving add some fresh basil and chives.

Let me know if you try some other variations.

*Tomato Powder

My food co-op sells sun-dried tomatoes in small plastic bag.  I dumped the contents into my vitamix and blended away and the results are a nice tomato powder.  Store in a container for future use.