Creamy Tomato Soup with Spinach and Grass-fed Ground Beef

It's winter. The temperatures are chilly. Soup warms the soul. I've become quite fond of soups. I used to think soups weren't very filling. This one hit the spot. In my Pre-Paleo days, I used to make a creamy tomato pasta soup using heavy cream (or half and half), mini pasta and lots of parmesan cheese. I had to make some adjustments to the soup. I wanted to make a heartier soup, but still have tons of veggies. I threw together the below recipe and loved it. My husband commented how it was much better than the Mexican food (cheat meal) we ate the night before.

Creamy Tomato Soup with Spinach and Grass-fed Ground Beef

Serves: 5-6
Paleo Rating: 9 Clubs

Ingredients:

• 2 T. olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
• 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 2 T. fresh basil, torn into small pieces
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups cashew cream (instructions below)
• 3 large handfuls of spinach
• 1 1/4 pounds grass-fed ground beef
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Saute veggies until tender and onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 
2. While the veggies are cooking, brown the ground beef in a separate pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. 
3. Add chicken broth, diced tomatoes and basil to the veggie mixture. Bring to a boil. 
4. Puree the soup with an immersion (hand) blender or blend in batches in your food processor or regular blender. 
5. Add the spinach and ground beef to the soup. Allow the spinach to wilt. 
6. Add the cashew cream and stir. 
7. Ladle into bowls and enjoy! 

To make the cashew cream:

You'll need 1 cup of raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 6 hours (you could do this the night before or the morning of and leave it all day). Drain and rinse them. Put them in your high-speed blender (I have a Vitamix) and cover with cold water. Blend until smooth. That's all there is to it. You may have a little extra, but it can be used in your morning omelettes. Just mix it with some nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor. 

This soup would be delicious with some Paleo Herb Crackers or Paleo bread. My personal favorites are Against All Grain's Grain-Free Sandwich Bread or Real Sustenance's Flaky Biscuits (I used coconut oil instead of butter).