Tomato Soup

    

     Grilled cheese and tomato soup. What could be a better dinner? Sometimes, I just don't know. And so, I give in - and that is exactly what I made for dinner last night.

     Pause: This was quite a long pause. Um, a couple of weeks to be exact? I made this dinner sometime in August for my family. But you know how it goes, it was summer's end, I moved back to school, started settling in, and the poor blog got left behind. But now I'm back! Hi world!

     This recipe is, after all, just too good not to blog about. I had never made tomato soup from scratch before, and I always assumed it would use something bad for you - like cream. Instead, all I used was veggies! Tomatoes, celery, potato, oh my! The potato is what gives this vegan soup its creaminess you see, we didn't need real cream after all. This soup still had the thickness and richness of tomato soup, but also felt hearty and wholesome. What more could one want?

     There's something about tomato soup that is so comforting. As I was standing stirring at the stove, on one of those inexplicably gloomy summer evenings, I just felt so content. The smells of rosemary and well...tomato soup, wafting up were as good as a massage. For the soul at least, my body would still like a massage. And after whipping up a few grilled cheese in the oven (good Italian bread, butter, and chunks of cheddar placed under the broiler for a few minutes do wonders for one's mood) and dunking them into the soup, I wished I could feel that way always and you could too.

Tomato Soup
Loosely adapted from The Innocent Primate Vegan Blog

2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Small Red Onion, Finely Chopped
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Celery Stalk, Chopped
1 Large Russet Potato, Diced (the bigger the dice, the longer you will have to cook it...)
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Rosemary
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
8 Medium Sized Tomatoes, Diced
2 cups Vegetable Broth

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil at medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, sauteeing them for a few minutes. Then, add the celery and potato. Stir everything together, and lower the heat to medium-low. Once the potatoes are softened, add the salt, oregano, rosemary, and sweet paprika. Stir in the tomatoes, and then the vegetable broth. Allow the soup to come to a boil, stirring occasionally, and then reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer for ten minutes, still stirring once in a while, until it has thickened. Then turn off the heat and pour it into the blender (feel free to do this in two or more steps if your blender is small - you do not want flying tomato soup!). If you want a chunkier soup, blend just a little, otherwise continue blending till you get your desired consistency. Pour the soup back into the pan or a prettier serving vessel, and ladle it out!

Note: This served five people for dinner, but if you were serving it as an appetizer it could probably serve at least eight.