For a fast and nutritious week-night dinner
Friends! Fire up the printer and get ready to add this to your Amazing Dinner Recipes Binder, because this Creamy Tomato and Spinach Soup with Tofu is uh-may-zing. (You all have an amazing dinner recipes binder, right?) I’m telling you, this dish has quickly become one of my favourites. Why? Well, because it can be made in 20 minutes or less, is mega delicious, there’s NO CHOPPING INVOLVED, and it passes my “Nutritious Meal” test by including a whole bunch of dark, leafy greens and a great source of protein. Pair it with a loaf of whole-grain sourdough, or a side of brown rice and you’ve got yourself a meal.
Let me ask you a question: Have you ever crumbled tofu into a soup?
Like, have you ever just taken a big old block of tofu and crushed with your hands right into the pot? I suspect most of you haven’t. I rarely see anyone do it. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever did it myself until my rogue husband started adding it to my Lentil Stew and our son went nuts for it.
Once you consider it, it makes good sense. Crumbled tofu has greater surface area than cubed tofu. Increased surface area = increased contact with soupy goodness. Increased contact with soupy goodness = greater infusion of flavour into your humble tofu = more delicious dinner = happy you! All that, and you didn’t need to do anything fancy OR get out your knife. Alright, let’s get on with the Creamy Tomato and Spinach Soup recipe.
Creamy Tomato and Spinach Soup with Tofu
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds*
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds*
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes or cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1.5 tsp salt
- One 28 oz can of whole tomatoes*
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 6 oz baby spinach
- 1 454 gram block of medium, firm, or extra firm tofu
METHOD
- If you’d like to serve this with rice, get your rice started first.
- Heat a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil. When it’s shimmering (but not smoking! Don’t let the oil get hot enough to smoke) add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and ground turmeric. Stir and cook the spices for about 30 seconds – you want them to sizzle and start to pop.
- Now add in the can of whole tomatoes. Give everything a stir, and then either transfer to a blender and blend well, or blend with an immersion blender right in the pot. You wan to break up those seeds, as well as puree the tomatoes.
- Transfer back to the pot if you used a blender, and continue to heat over medium heat. Now add the pepper flakes, if using, can of coconut milk, and 1.5 tsp salt. Remove the tofu from the package, give it a rinse under cold water, then crumble it into the pot. Heat, stirring occasionally, until everything comes to a simmer.
- Once the soup is hot, add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. That’s it! Taste and adjust seasoning, adding up to an additional 1/2 tsp of salt if necessary. Serve with fresh cracked pepper.
*If you know you can’t be bothered to puree this soup, go ahead and use ground cumin, ground coriander, and pureed tomatoes.
Inspiration for this recipe came from the book Greens 24/7 by Jessica Nadel. It’s a great book with loads of ideas for how to include more GREENS in your diet. And well all need to eat more greens! Pick up a copy, or borrow it from your local library for a bit of inspiration.