We do love our soup in this household.  Now that I think of it, this recipe is also Vegan - not a speck of animal protein in this soup whatsoever.  There are other tomato style soups on my blog, as well as Vegetarian, but I think this is the second Vegan soup I have ever made. It was surprisingly filling and packed full of flavor.
On another happy note, I found a fantastic deal on a new Kitchen Toy at the Thrift store:
This little baby cost $5.25 - how is that for a deal?  It has two settings on the switch, setting 1 then setting 2 which is turbo speed.  I was a little nervous buying a used hand immersion blender as everything in my kitchen is completely gluten free.  Remember making glue as a kid with flour and water?  The very thought of there being stuck on wheat flour or other forms of gluten was terrifying.  For a Celiac - this could be dangerous ground.
So to clean this blender, I filled a bowl with very hot soapy water, and blended on turbo speed for 2 minutes.  Rinsed out the bowl, added more hot water, and blended for another 2 minutes.  Then to make double sure it was clean, I rinsed out the bowl once more and poured in boiling water, then blended another 2 minutes.
That did the trick!  It was now super shiny clean and it blended the Vegetarian Tomato Basil Soup beautifully, with no risk of gluten contamination. Believe you me...if there was gluten contamination on that blender, I would have reacted within one minute after tasting the soup!
Then the day after - we had sunshine - out came the BBQ for burgers and homemade ketchup:

I love great Thrift Store Finds, and this one was such a deal!
CREAMY VEGETARIAN TOMATO BASIL SOUP:
5 cups sliced Roma tomatoes
2 Tblsp. Balsamic Vinegar
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk of celery with leaves, chopped
salt and pepper
4 cups of Homemade Vegetable stock
1/2 cup minced Fresh Basil
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Add the tomatoes, Balsamic Vinegar, a couple of good splashes of Ex. Virgin Olive Oil, salt and pepper to a roasting pan, tossing to coat.
Roast for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, heat up a large pot or dutch oven on low medium heat, with a good drizzle of olive oil.  Add the carrots, onion, garlic and celery to the pot, sauteing about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
Pour in the Vegetable stock, and bring to a simmer on low heat, lid on and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
Add the roasted tomatoes, minced basil, and blend with an immersion blender or a food processor until thick and creamy.
Serve hot with fresh Gluten Free Bread - great for lunch or dinner!