Easy & Hearty Vegan Tomato Soup Chock Full O Veggies

Just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's tasteless! This soup is pretty rich and hearty, and it's a healthy meatless and animal-product-free version of the classic comfort food. It's a fun soup for the whole family, and your kids will LOVE it with grilled cheese sandwiches! I love my grilled cheese dipped in this soup. :) This is my very own recipe: my uncle is a professional chef and taught me how to cook in his massive kitchen but I can't do the insanely complex stuff he does. Thus while trying to find vegetarian and vegan recipes, I discovered this mixture by accident-- and have now perfected it instead of eating some overly salty Progresso crap. Other Notes: 1) This is the UPDATED recipe, the first one was kinda rough, I've perfected it now. 2) You can also use 1-2 bay leaves for extra kick but I usually don't keep them around. 3) Try it with some extra orzo or ditalini if you want to make a meal out of it!

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Serves: 4-6
• Yields: 6 cups

Ingredients

• 18  ounces tomato paste (I use 3 6-oz cans)
• 3  cups vegetable broth
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 3  tablespoons onion powder
• 2  teaspoons  minced garlic (you can sub 1 tbsp garlic powder)
• 1  teaspoon dried basil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (14 1/2ounce) can  diced new potatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can corn
• 1 (15 1/2ounce) can black beans
• 1⁄4 cup celery, finely chopped (including leaves)
• 3⁄4 cup  ditalini, cooked al dente

Directions

1. Rinse and drain all the canned food and put in a large bowl for now.
2. Finely chop the celery and put it in the bowl too.
3. Cook the ditalini al dente and put it aside for now, still in the water so it doesn't dry out.
4. Put the vegetable broth, oil, and tomato paste into a large saucepan, mix together on high heat.
5. When this completely melds, lower the heat and add the minced garlic, onion powder, black pepper, and basil. Stir.
6. Add the whole bowl of veggies and blend in well.
7. Drain the ditalini and add to the mix.
8. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until thick and bubbly.