"Creamy" Vegan Tomato Soup

Okay, so it is not difficult to make tomato soup vegan, but what about a creamy tomato soup.  What if you want it to be creamy without any, well, cream.  I thought about using a milk substitutes like soy, almond or coconut milk, but I really did not have any of those items on hand and I find the cost of such items to be quite high.  So, in attempt to mock the creamy aspect of cream, I added 1 1/2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans to the soup.  This lightened the tang of the tomato as well as lightening the color of soup.  It did however leave the soup less than smooth, so I had to pour it through a sieve to get out most of the solids. 

As I stated in my Foodbuzz Festival posting I am attempting to make some minor changes to the blog.  Eventually I will be purchasing a DSLR camera and making the move from blogger to Wordpress, but those things cost money.  So, in the mean time I need to get some traffic rolling into the blog.  Therefore I will be spending a bit more time on Twitter and sprucing up my photos a bit.  See above, I used a spoon and a napkin in the photos.  Never fear my Foodbuzz pals, for while I used a napkin, I did NOT iron it.  I will also be attempting to capture the recipe in photos as I make the recipe.  I failed on this account with this recipe, forgetting to take a single photo until I had the soup in the blender....Hey you gotta start somewhere. 

"Creamy" Vegan Tomato Soup

4 cups diced ripe tomatoes with the juice

1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans

1 small onion diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine the above ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Lower the temperature on your oven and allow the soup to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. 

In small batches puree the soup in a blender. 

Strain the soup through a sieve or through cheesecloth.

Return the strained soup to the stock pot, blend back together and serve warm.