Vegan Carrot, Cauliflower and Tomato Soup with Optimum Vac2 Vacuum Blender Review

Learn how to make Pressure Cooked Vegan Cauliflower, Tomato and Carrot Soup

When Froothie contacted me in April to try their latest Optimum Vac2 Vacuum Blender, I was in a middle of packing and moving houses from Cornwall to Yorkshire. They sent me the blender as soon as we shifted to our new house but it took me over a month to give it a try. I was so caught up with unpacking, turning the house into a home, buried under a pile of paper works and settling the kid into a whole new place and school that before I could blink it was summer holiday and we left to India to spend all of the summer break with our family. When we returned from India, I finally got time some time to try the blender to its full potential by making smoothies after smoothies along with using it for making nut butters, curry pastes, spice blends, pasta sauces and even dosa and idli batters. So here is the detailed post about my experience with the Froothie Optimum Vac2 Vacuum Blender after using it rigorously over the last 3 months.

Optimum Vac2 Vacuum Blender

Froothie Optimum Vac2 Vacuum Blender comes with a blender base, BPA free 2 liters jug with 6 stainless steel wet and dry multi-purpose blade assembly, two-part lid, heavy duty tamper tool for improved processing and mixing, spare vacuum seals and instruction manual. It also comes with a recipe book with over 70 mainly vegan recipes. Vac2 blender comes in 3 colour choices (red, black and silver) and has 8 different speed settings and has some preset buttons that will set the time and speed for you like smoothie, veg and fruits, pulse, nuts, and soup. It has the option to turn the dial to set the timer yourself. The bright blue LED screen on the blender base shows the speed and time setting. Pretty straight forward.


The really exciting thing about this Vac2 blender is its vacuum feature. I must confess that I was not only intrigued about it when I heard about it, but also bit skeptical about the feature. According to Froothie, the nutrients of fruits and vegetables are fully preserved as no oxidation takes place during blending which means smoothies won’t discolour and separate as they often do after a short period. It’s sounds too good to be true, right? Never one to believe until I try it myself, I can now safely say that it delivers what it says in the package! I have tested this feature many times and also, have left a bottle of smoothie for 2 hours and was surprised to see the colours stay pretty much the same without turning into ugly shade of brown!

To use this vacuum feature, you have to place the lid onto the jug aligning it with the arrow on the handle. Then place the overhead silicon sucker at the top of blender jug lid. Once you press the vacuum button, it takes 70 seconds to suck out air in the jug. It will show up on the blue LED screen, you just need to press the on/off button when you’re ready to go! The control panel is really simple to use and operate.



This is not your ordinary juicer or blender. It is heavy and is a powerful blender with a maximum motor power of 2238W and as you can see is a bit of a beast. Which means you can blend pretty much anything from juices, smoothies, sauces, nut butters, nut/plant milks, soups, spice blends, curry pastes, dosa/idli batters etc effortlessly. With 5 years warranty and additional up to 10 years warranty with additional cost, this Froothie Optimum Vac2 Vacuum Blender is built to last for a very long time.

This is not a small blender and takes up a bit of counter space. One thing I must bring to your attention is the fact that it is really tall (about 50cm tall) and heavy (7.9 kg), which means that it may not fit in many conventional kitchen cupboards. Thankfully I have a tall kitchen shelf designed exclusively for kitchen appliances and so, storing it away when not in use is not a problem for me.

The other thing I want to mention is the noise (83 dBA). As I mentioned above, this is a beast of a machine with a powerful motor and at its highest setting, it is quite noisy. You may want to consider it especially if you live in an apartment or share a house wall with your neighbour(s).




As with any powerful blenders, Vac2 too is bit pricy. It retails at £499.00, but right now you can get it for £339.00 with 30 days money back guarantee including postage cost for UK mainland orders. The second being the jar size. This blender comes with a single jar with a capacity of 2 litres and attached blades. It would have been really useful if it came with a smaller jar, especially to make spice blends and nut butters as it’s bit fiddly to scrape the butter stuck to the blade and at the bottom of the jar.

As a food blogger and recipe developer, this blender has been extensively used in my kitchen. Since the days are drawing closer to winter, I am sharing this ridiculously simple, quick and easy to make Pressure Cooked Vegan Carrot, Cauliflower and Tomato Soup. For me, Soup is cuisine's kindest course. It breathes reassurance; it steams consolation. One whiff of a savoury aromatic soup and appetites come to attention. The steaming fragrance of a tempting soup is a prelude to the goodness to come. It puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite. And this Vegan Carrot, Cauliflower and Tomato Soup is my go to recipe I learnt from my dear friend Vidya, and trust me when I say it gets ready under 20 minutes. I use my trusted pressure cooker which halves the time of cooking. All you need to do is dump roughly chopped tomatoes, carrots and cauliflower florets in a pressure cooker and cook it with a water for one or two whistles and then blitz the veggies to make either a rustic, chunky soup with skin, seeds and all the goodness or velvety smooth soup that slides warming your body and soul.

I am not sharing any flavourings for this soup as I am going to let you choose your own seasonings/flavourings. While most days I go for freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt, or top it with some smoked sea salt, chilli flakes, toasted sesame seeds and a little drizzle of olive oil. If you prefer a zesty or herby flavour, how about adding some fresh basil while blending the soup for that fresh flavour or sprinkle some chilli flakes for a spice kick? There is endless choices to make this soup your own with an array of flavour combinations and with every different flavourings, it can never get boring. Hearty, moreish and oh so delicious! A bowl of warm, comforting and nourishing soup is all I need on a cold and grey winter months! What about you? Are you a soup person?

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Pressure Cooked Vegan Carrot, Cauliflower and Tomato Soup (Quick and easy pressure cooker mixed vegetable soup)
Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: 10-15 mins
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Low to Medium
Serves: 3-4 people
Shelf Life: Best served fresh but can be refrigerated for 5-6 days
Serving Suggestion: On its own or with some garlic baguette or toasted/grilled bread of your choice

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Ingredients:
½ - ¾ head of medium Cauliflower
3-4 medium Tomatoes
3 large Carrots
Salt to taste

Optional seasonings/flavourings of choice:
Freshly cracked/ground peppercorns
Small handful of Basil Leaves or Dried Basil
Smoked Sea Salt
Flavoured Sea Salts
Chilli Flakes (I like chipotle chilli flakes)
Garlic or chilli infused olive oil

Method:
Preparation:

1. Wash and cut the cauliflower into large florets.
2. Scrub and wash the carrots. Trim the ends and cut them into 1 inch rounds.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into quarters.

Proceed to cook:

1. Place all the vegetables in a pressure cooker and add about 2 cups of water. Close the lid and let it cook on medium flame for 1-2 whistles. Let the pressure release completely before opening the lid. Alternatively you can use instant pot or heavy bottomed sauce pan with lid to cook the vegetables.
2. Transfer the cooked vegetables along with the water in which its cooked into a blender and blend them to either chunky puree or smooth puree. Alternatively, use a hand blender to puree the vegetables.
3. If using a Indian mixer grinder, I suggest to let the vegetables cool down slightly before blending them to avoid any hot food splattering all around. You can reheat the soup before serving.
4. Add the seasonings of your choice and serve this delicious Pressure Cooked Vegan Cauliflower, Tomato and Carrot Soup hot with some garlic baguette or any toasted/grilled bread of your choice for a hearty and healthy meal. Enjoy!

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Sia’s Notes:

• If using a Indian mixer grinder, I suggest to let the vegetables cool down slightly before blending them to avoid any hot food splattering all around. You can reheat the soup before serving.
• Experiment with using different seasonal vegetables to make this soup.