Sumptuous Tomato Oats Soup

Today was a day to try out something new. So I tried a new type of soup...with OATS!!

Oats are generally considered "healthy", or a health food since it has healthy cholesterol-lowering properties hence becoming an efficient tool in battling heart diseases. It also lowers blood sugar hence is an excellent meal choice for diabetics.

Generally we consume oats in the form of porridge for breakfast but since I’m quite bored of the sweet variations of oats it was time to omit the sugar and add the spice. In the past my mom had urged me a lot to try making soup with oats, encouraging me with the nutritional values and the “it sure does taste good” factor.

So while I was sitting bored I searched through the internet and found this new recipe for a tomato and oats soup. It was seemed so easy and so fast to make, I thought why not give it a shot now. So it took me less than 15 mins from start to finish making this soup. It might look simple n perhaps even boring, but I must warn you this soup packs in more flavour and punch than an ordinary clear vegetable soup. It’s thick, sumptuous, and flavourful all in all the fastest most delectable soup I’ve made ever!!

I’m one who prefers their soup with a thick consistency and generally I add in corn starch to thicken the soups, but I’ve learnt that oats can also be used as a thickening agent in soups. Oats is any day 100 times better than corn starch so the next time you want to add corn starch to soup, substitute it with oats (powder it if you don’t want the flaky pieces of oats).

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup oats
• 5 large tomatoes, halved and sliced
• 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 green chillies (optional; can be omitted if you don’t want the soup to be spicy)
• 3 cups water, divided
• 1/2 bunch fresh coriander leaves
• 2 chicken stock cubes/vegetable stock cubes: for flavour (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Heat a large deep pan or non-stick pot over medium-low heat. Pour in the olive oil, and let it heat up. Add the oats; cook and stir until toasted.
2. In a blender or large food processor, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chillies, 1 cup of water, and coriander leaves. Blend until smooth. Pour into the pan with the toasted oats. Stir in the remaining 2 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Mix in the salt and chicken/vegetable stock cubes. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Enjoy hot or warm.