I don’t know about where you live, but it’s COLD in these here parts. (Wait, that phrase sounded just fine in my head, but now that I’ve typed it, I’m psyching myself out… that phrase is referring to a geographical location, right? Not body parts or anything?) At any rate, it’s really cold here in Utah. And I have to say, that no matter how much of a green smoothie enthusiast I am, it’s hard to guzzle down a quart of chilly goodness every day. These days call for fuzzy blankets next to the fire with a cup of tea.

I’ve also been getting a lot of questions about this… “How can I continue eating at least 50% raw food when I’m f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g?” I hear you, sister! WARM, RAW SOUP is your answer.

“But I thought when you heat food it’s not raw anymore.”

Nonsense! At least, as long as you keep it under 105 degrees, you’re okay. And some would argue that under 115 degrees keeps all the enzymes in tact. I’m more of a 105 degree believer, but either way, 105 is still a pretty comforting temperature. And the great thing about this recipe is that you can have this chilled, 105 degrees, 115 degrees, or you can cook the thing entirely without changing a single ingredient.

This soup is brimming with energy-giving foods and tocopherols. It’s chock full of vitamin C, exploding with vitamin A, and tastes even better than a can of Campbell’s. (Wait, that’s not saying much, is it?)

Serves 2-4 (I give a range here, because this is enough to serve 4, but because it’s all low calorie, low sugar plant foods, you could split this between two people and have no guilt about filling your belly!)

Ingredients:

4 cups tomatoes (can be any kind, I usually use cherry tomatoes because I always have them on hand)
2 sweet red bell peppers, sliced
2 cups chopped carrots or baby carrots
Juice of 2 limes
1.5 – 2 cups almonds (for even more nutrients and a smoother consistency, start with raw almonds and soak them in water for 8 hours first)
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp onion powder
1 drop of basil essential oil or 1 tsp dried basil
2 dashes of sea salt
optional for my omnivorous friends: chopped grilled chicken breast

Directions:

Split all the ingredients in half and blend this in two batches. If you’re using a Blendtec, add everything to the blender in the order listed. You don’t need to chop up the cherry tomatoes. If you start with everything at room temperature and then use Blendtec’s “Soup” button, you’ll have a WARM soup in 90 seconds that super comforting, but not too hot to kill live enzymes. If you like it a bit warmer, but still want to keep MOST of your enzymes, add 1/2 cup of hot water to the mixture before blending it. If you want a fully cooked soup, blend in the blender and then transfer the contents to a medium sauce pan and warm on low heat until desired temperature is reached. Add your optional chicken and serve immediately with a crack of fresh pepper on top!

If you’re not using a Blendtec or a Vitamix, that’s okay too. Just start with everything chopped up really well, definitely start with soaked almonds, and just keep blending until it’s smooth. Then transfer it to a pot and heat on the lowest setting, using a thermometer to heat it until it’s 105 degrees. Serve!

This is so great with a couple of whole grain croutons and a side salad of mixed wild greens topped with pomegranates, then drizzled with a mixture of olive oil, honey and balsamic vinegar.