Nutritious Cream Of Tomato Soup (Easily made suitable for vegans)

I thought it would be a good idea to share some recipes which are suitable for anyone with limited jaw use and that are healthy and nutritious. I used to love cooking but these days, not only do I struggle with cooking but I struggle with maintaining an appetite. It's not unusual for me to have microwaved porridge for lunch or dinner as it's quick and easy to make and eat! But, we all need good nutrition, and those will illnesses probably more than most... so here we go!

I'll be clear from the beginning, I'm not a food blogger and so I don't have lots of lovely pictures of preparation and final result. I'll try to get some prep photos for future recipes though.

Nutritious Cream Of Tomato Soup (Easily made suitable for vegans) 

Ingredients:
2 large tomatoes
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 jar of sun-dried tomatoes (plus some of the oil)
1 tin (400ml approx) chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 cup of split red lentils
1 vegetable stock cube
small carton of cream (for a vegan option use a dairy free substitute - in the UK Alpro Soya or Oatly do dairy free cream or you add some dairy free plain youghurt)

N.B. I'm not really one for measuring things when I cook so these amounts can be varied to taste.

Method:

1. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and the onion into large pieces and place on a baking tray with the garlic (peeled and lightly crushed under a knife). Drizzle with some oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and season with salt and pepper if you wish. Roast in oven at 180 C for 20 minutes.
2. Remove roasted veg from oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, remove the skin from the tomatoes (this is optional). 
3. Put the roasted veg, the sun-dried tomatoes, the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, lentils and stock cube into a large saucepan. Add about a pint of water and heat over a medium heat. Simmer, whilst stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. 
4. Remove from heat and puree in a blender or with a hand blender until smooth. Return to a low heat and add the cream or cream substitute and stir in. Heat for a few minutes.
5. Serve and enjoy. If you can manage bread, have some but if not the soup is quite nutritious and filling on it's own.

I freeze single portions of the soup to have on other days which is very helpful when you're having a high pain day and don't want to cook - simply reheat in the microwave or on the hob. Personally, I freeze things with cream in although many people say you shouldn't! It's always worked fine for me, but if you don't want to, just skip adding the cream to the portions for the freezer and add when you defrost. I'm pretty sure it would taste fine without any cream in and this will save hassle of using small amounts of cream or substitute - these recipes are all about minimum hassle. You can just share the whole pan with the rest of the family if they want some!