We are grateful for the opportunity to share food here in the Garden of Eden!

One way we do that is by giving away free food every single day, and we extend the offer to you too because we are here to help one and all: if you or anyone you know wants or needs food, contact us - we will give you free food, no questions asked. 

Another way we do that is by preparing daily feasts for our full time volunteers and having communal meals together, which we share here on the blockchain every day!

Photographs are a great way to share food across time and space to bring people together, and we also love to share the recipes behind the photos to inspire you to recreate the yumminess in your own kitchen & share with family and friends! 

Today, we want to share one of our favorite food formulas for an easy, delicious, nutritious, vegan TOMATO VEGGIE SOUP!

This is a medium bodied soup great for transitional seasons.
This recipe is made for the whole Garden of Eden community, and it is an excellent way to use up an abundance of tomatoes! It makes a super big batch that has about 30 2 cup servings, but is very easy to pare down. 

Ingredients:
6 chopped onions
2 bunches of celery, chopped
About 12 carrots, chopped
About 24 tomatoes, quartered and puréed in the food processor
1 head cauliflower
1-2 heads broccoli
1/3 head cabbage
1 quart veggie broth
1 head garlic
1/8 cup each fresh basil, oregano, & thyme chopped
Salt to taste
Optional: dairy or vegan cheese for sprinkling on top

Directions:

Cut all the veggies about 1/2 inch or smaller, except the cauliflower and broccoli which can be a bit bigger. That way you can get multiple veggies in each spoonful!

Start with a bit of oil in the bottom of your pot, and add the chopped onions first.

Sautée for about a minute, then add celery and carrots.

Purée tomatoes while onions, celery, and carrots are cooking. When onions are slightly browned, add tomato purée.

Crank the heat up to high. For us, that means adding another fence panel board into the rocket stove, until the flames are shooting up around the pot. Allow the soup base to cook for about 20 minutes on high. This is a good pocket of time in which to chop more veggies! Add the veggie broth. Water is a fine substitute if you don't have broth; just add a bit more salt and herbs to compensate  and add extra flavor. 

Add the rest of the chopped veggies- cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, yellow squash. Feel free to use your own favorite veggies! (Note: If you want to use mushrooms, they should go in first with the onions.)

Peel, chop, and add garlic.

Run to the garden and pick herbs. We use basil, oregano, and thyme for this soup; lemon balm and rosemary are nice too!  Chop and add the herbs to the soup. Give it about another 5 minutes and then kill the heat and cover it.

This soup is vegan and is delicious as is, but it is also great served with a bit of shredded mild cheese like mozzarella for a stringy effect or fontina for a bit more bite. You can also use vegan cheese if you want it creamy but prefer to avoid dairy!

You can also blend it if you prefer a smooth soup.

Enjoy! 

Food is important, and we hope to inspire people to really take time to eat, enjoy it, and share it with someone you love. We also hope to inspire more and more sustainable practices in regards to food! 

Food is an honored & elemental part of our daily life in community. You can learn more about our unique, intimate, and super sustainable relationship with food here!

For more inspiration, support, and service, please sign up for our newsletter! Once a week, we will deliver sustainable health & wellness insight and so much more straight to your inbox!

www.intothegardenofeden.com