Vegetarian for the week

One of my Day Zero goals is to eat vegetarian for a week. Today (Sunday) was my first day not eating animals.

I'm relying a lot on my new cookbooks for inspiration, and this first night's dinner was based on the Sprouted Kitchen's roasted tomato soup.

This not being a season to find beautiful, ripe tomatoes, however, my major departure from the recipe was in using canned tomatoes. I'd love to try this again in the summer and use the recipe as written. Nevertheless, this was simple, delicious and perfectly savory.

So, with these major changes and a few other minor ones, here's my adaptation:

Tomato soup with roasted garlic and onion

Adapted from the Sprouted Kitchen

1 yellow onion
4-5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 28-oz. can whole plum tomatoes + 1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained (or whatever combination gets you about 2 lbs. tomatoes)
1 1/2 c. vegetable broth
2 T. tomato paste
1/3 c. heavy cream
salt and pepper
olive oil
sugar
fresh parsley (or basil)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut onion into wedges, toss with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, then spread out on parchment-lined baking sheet. Place garlic cloves and a dash of olive oil on top on a small sheet of tin foil and wrap it up into a package. Place both onion sheet and garlic package in the oven to bake for about 25 minutes. Watch so the onions don't char. Remove both items from oven and set aside while you prepare the soup base.

Heat broth in a large saucepan and as it begins to simmer, add the tomato paste. Stir a bit so the paste dissolves. Add the onions, garlic and drained tomatoes. Simmer for a few minutes.

Use a blender to puree the soup, then add the cream and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch or two of sugar if it tastes a bit too acidic. Serve with chopped parsley and Parmesan toast (lightly brush olive oil on a slice of baguette, top with freshly grated Parmesan and place under the broiler for a couple minutes, until cheese is melted).