Tomato Soup Like You Wish Campbell's Made It

Making your own tomato soup really is super easy I promise! Not quite as easy as opening a can and adding water to the concentrate but SO worth the extra (minimal) effort. Once you taste this fresh, zingy bowl of lycopene-packed goodness you'll never go back to the over-processed, corn syrup-laden cans of your youth. Except maybe every once in a while, for nostalgic purposes, but even then, you'll be disappointed.

As for that old best pal of tomato soup, the grilled cheese, you can easily recapture the experience of dipping the sidekick sandwich into your piping-hot soup (the way the soft part of the bread absorbs the sop while the toasty crust remains crunchy-joy!) by filling your soup bowl with toasted cubes of stale bread and topping your soup with copious shavings of cheese. It's actually easier than assembling and cooking a sandwich, and it makes you feel sorta sophisticated. Deconstructed, reconstructed, and all grown-up.

Tomato Soup!

1 28 oz. Can Organic Whole Tomatoes (preferably the Italian kind with the beautiful labels)

1 Medium Onion, chopped small

2-3 c. vegetable broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. sugar

2-3 tsp. balsamic vinegar

fresh basil (optional, minced), or dried (also optional)

olive oil

Other Options:

1-inch cubes stale, toasted bread

egg for poaching

parmigiano-reggiano, for shaving and grating

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot warm 1 Tbs olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until it begins to brown, stirring occasionally, about 8-10 minutes. W

hile the onions are cooking, open the tomatoes and pour into a strainer set over a bowl. Break the tomatoes into chunks, setting the chunks aside while letting the seeds fall into the strainer. When the onions are tender and beginning to caramelize, add the tomatoes and their juices, along with the garlic and broth (start with 1 or 2 cups, depending on how thick you like your soup) to the pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Turn down heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Turn off heat. Taste for salt and pepper, adding to taste. At this point you can puree the soup if you like it smooth, half puree it (as I do), or skip ahead to the ne

xt step if you prefer your soup brothy/chunky. Use and immersion blender to blend soup to desired consistency. Alternately, puree in a blender or food processor.

3. Add sugar and vinegar to soup, return to a low heat. Taste. Add a pinch more sugar if it is too tangy. Add chopped fresh basil, if using.

Optional:

4. Ladle 2 cups soup into a smaller saucepan, heat over very ow flame. Crack one very fresh egg (if you are serving one, otherwise add 1 1/2 cups soup per person, one egg per person) into the soup, cover tightly and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the white is set.

To serve:

Place about 1 cup of toasted bread chunks into your favorite soup bowl, top with 2 ladles full of soup, top with grated cheese. If you are adding the poached egg (a very good idea), carefully ladle the soup from around the egg and pour over bread. Slide the egg onto the soup, topping with cheese, salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Tuck on in!

Preserved Lemon and Green Olive Relish

Until I found instructions on how to make quick preserved lemons I had always written them off as a pantry luxury item. I had a feeling that even if I could find them at the international grocery they wouldn't be as good as if I made them myself and I just have not had the time or piles of lemons required to make them as of yet. Preserved lemons add a delicious salty/citrus kick to middle eastern food; they are superbly strong and best when chopped fine, minus the pulp, which tends to get a bit slimy in the fermentation process.

Mix them into some thick yogurt to dollop on vegetables and couscous and spicy soups, or stir them together with fresh parsley, chopped olives and mint to use as a relish for fish, chicken, or tofu, as I did recently (my fish was mahi-mahi, my tangled green side dish was broccoli rabe- a complete meal- yay!)

Green Olive and Preserved Lemon Relish

(note: this recipe makes a pretty small batch, as I am only on person with one fillet to top. You can easily double or triple the recipe to suit your dinner)

1/4 cup cracked green olives, pitted and chopped

2 Tbs. preserved lemon, chopped fine

2-3 Tbs. each fresh parsley and mint, chopped

fresh lemon juice

olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, add a drizzle of olive oil and just a twist or two of cracked pepper.

Quick Preserved Lemons

1 whole lemon, organic preferably, since you will be eating the peel

kosher salt

Thoroughly wash the lemon with cleanser of your choice (I treat it like a dish, using dishsoap and a scrub pad).

Slice both ends off the lemon, set aside. Slice lemon into very thin rounds, layer in a small bowl with generous sprinkles of salt between each layer, squeeze the juice from the lemon ends onto the slices. Cover and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Done!

Sprouts to Spite the Cold

... with flavors brighter than any feeble light the winter sun casts!

Staying indoors too much, saturating my mind-palate with flavors and ideas for foods, feeling mostly well but not my usual sprightly self... it must still be winter. January at that. How to snap out of my half-funk? Vegetables. Clean tasting with textures that challenge. Flavors invoking warm colors and foreign soils. It must be Indian, for what could be brighter than turmeric and ginger? Warmer than mustard seed and chile? Feel cleaner and healthier than steaming basmati rice and cilantro?
While hungrily leafing through Monica Bhide's book, Modern Spice, I found a recipe that brought together not only the flavors I craved, but that would also make excellent use of a bag of Brussels sprouts and a couple of misplaced turnips that had been languishing in my vegetable drawer for longer than I care to admit.
I steamed some basmati, chopped fresh mint and cilantro, and roasted tofu cubes in a paste of chickpea flour and olive oil for a little protein to round out the meal. It all came together in under an hour and filled my bowl and belly with enough warmth to get me through another few days of deep winter.


Brussels Sprouts, Leeks, and Curry Leaves
from Modern Spice

2 Tbs. Vegetable oil
1 tsp. black mustard seeds (not yellow American mustard seeds)
10-15 fresh curry leaves (I didn't have these so I omitted them and added a teaspoon of curry powder instead- not at all the same, but I was in a pinch! next time I'll get the real thing.)
2 whole dried red chilies, broken (I used one fresh chile because that's what I had)
15 Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut into fourths (about 1 pound)
2 medium leeks, white and green parts only, chopped
2 medium turnips, cubed (my addition)
3 Tbsp. chopped toasted peanuts
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. red chile powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. salt to start

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add the mustard seeds, cooking until the seeds sizzle and pop. Add the curry leaves (if you are lucky enough to have them), chilies, Brussels sprouts, leeks and turnips, if using.
2. Saute for 5 to 6 minutes, until the vegetables begin to brown.
3. Add the turmeric, chile powder, coriander and salt. Stir thoroughly and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add a tablespoon or two of water, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Top with the peanuts and taste for salt (amazingly, I found I didn't need to add any extra salt). Serve over rice.
Delicious!

Side note: when I ate the leftovers the next night I made another of Monica's recipes, these Besan Crepes, which turned out to be the chickpea pancakes of my dreams. I'm dying to make them again to share with my chickpea-lovin' friends so let's make dinner together soon!

Do I have permission to gloss over the fact that I have not posted in waaaaaaaaaay too long and just pop up a little post here like it was a regular occurrence? Please? I won't even attempt to make excuses about being busy during the holidays or mention that I barely cooked a decent meal the entire month of December (thank you, Trader Joe's soup in a carton, for getting me through the holidays). Fine then, it's settled. Time for a blog post!

Let's start things off with one of the simplest pleasures of winter cooking: roasted vegetables. The same basic treatment can be applied to hardy winter vegetables and fruits and makes for a delicious side or salad topping or soup base. Start with a selection of sweet potatoes, turnips, butternut squash, rutabagas, apples, quince, new potatoes, celery root, yams, carrots, onions... pick a few that look good to you and get to peeling and dicing! Add some winter-y herbs for flavor bonus (rosemary, sage, thyme) if you'd like, but good ol' olive oil and salt and pepper is really all you need.

Here's a basic recipe to get you started.

Sage-Roasted Winter Vegetables

2 purple yams

1 sweet potato

3 medium turnips

1 quince (substitute 1 granny smith apple)

8 - 10 sage leaves

olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Peel all vegetables. Cut into 3/4 inch cubes. The more evenly cut the vegetables are, the more evenly they'll cook, this is the only semi-difficult step in this recipe. Place cubed vegetables in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Heat 3 Tbs olive oil over medium-high heat in a small skillet. Test to see if the oil is hot enough by putting a pinch of a sage leaf in. If it sizzles, the oil is ready to fry the sage leaves in. Add the sage leaves to the skillet, 3 or 4 at a time, turning after 30-40 seconds. Continue cooking on the second side for another 30 seconds, then pull from the oil and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Save for later.

3. Pour the now sage infused olive oil over the vegetables in the bow. Add 2-3 tsp. kosher salt and quite a few grinds of fresh pepper. Toss the vegetables in the oil and spread evenly on a baking sheet (lined with parchment or sprayed with pan spray). It is important not to crowd the vegetables or have them piled on top of one another, otherwise you won't achieve the crispy edges and browned skin you desire!

4. Place the pan in a 350 degree preheated oven. I like to put an ovenproof dish filled with about an inch of water in the oven when roasting- I find it gently steams the vegetables so they cook through and you don't end up with a caramelized outside and crunchy inside. Roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring with a spatula after about 15 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on the size and density of your vegetables. Test with a fork for tenderness.

5. To serve, top with the fried sage leaves, crumbled, and a little more salt and pepper. So good!