This vegan soup gets its richness from coconut milk; both that and the coconut oil are available at Sunshine Health Foods, as are many of the veggies and herbs.
SHINE CAFE’S ROASTED TOMATO SOUP
Makes: 6-8 servings
• 1 white onion, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, extra virgin, organic
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 5-6 cups fresh vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon fresh marjoram
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 10 Roma tomatoes, roasted and seeded
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and roasted
• 1 cup canned coconut milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh herbs for garnish
Sauté onions in coconut oil until transparent, then add carrots and stock. Cook on medium heat until soft.
Add herbs, roasted tomatoes, and garlic. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, place in food processor or blender, and blend until smooth. Be careful of possible expansion of the hot liquid.)
Add coconut milk and salt and pepper, and pulse or blend briefly to incorporate.
Serve immediately and garnish with more fresh herbs.
—Katy Budge
Things are the same, only a little bit different at Sunshine Health Foods in Morro Bay.
Former employee and now owner Greg Barnard bought the Morro Bay store from Bill and Dani Nicholson in February, though “Bill still works here once a week and goes to the farmers market,” said Barnard. “It’s been a really good transition.”
Barnard has been working in the health food industry for almost a decade, since he landed a job “right out of college at a co-op in Austin, Texas; I started eating well and taking care of myself — it just really felt right.”
Eating well is certainly easy to do at Sunshine Health Foods. While you’ll find all the usual items you’d expect — vitamins, supplements, bulk items, produce — it’s also home to Shine Cafe, a vegetarian eatery in the back of the store.
Owned and operated by Stephanie Burchiel for the past two years, Shine Cafe started out as a smoothie bar, but it has since expanded to include everything from soups to salads, tempeh tacos to black bean tostadas, and breakfast items such as organic buckwheat pancakes.
A Cal Poly psych grad whose own family operates an organic farm, Burchiel recalls that her decision to buy the cafe “was kind of spontaneous, but I love serving people. You’re a regular here by the first day — that’s the small-town glory of it.”
Barnard plans few changes for Sunshine Health Foods, other than “doing a little reorganizing to take advantage of our small space and bringing in even more fresh and organic produce.”
“We go to two farmers markets a week and get deliveries from an organic distributor twice a week, but we like to get as much as we can from small farmers,” he said. “We really want to send a message to them that their family farms are worth keeping.”
Source : http://www.sanluisobispo.com/food/story/72615.html
