There are times when I, a lover of food, don’t feel like cooking. Cooking, if done well, takes time and energy, and when I’m done eating, the stack of dirty dishes makes me wish I had ordered Chinese takeout.
But when I don’t want to pay $15 for chicken fried rice, I resort to easy-to-make, not-much-to-clean comfort food. My current favorite? Homemade tomato soup.
To me, there are many overrated American staples, like macaroni and cheese from a box and boring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But tomato soup with grilled cheese is a filling and healthy meal that always warms my soul even when I’m feeling grumpier than an economics professor.
This recipe is perfect while the weather is still cold enough to properly enjoy a bowl of hot soup. The ingredients are also cheap staples, making this meal not only simple for your tired-from-too-much-studying-or-partying brain, but also your bank account. You can usually find canned vegetables on sale for less than 75 cents at the grocery store, which makes this recipe a cheaper alternative to buying a can from Campbell’s.
As much as I love the tomato soup and grilled cheese combo, canned soup has never been a personal favorite. But the March issue of “Real Simple” magazine provided a doable tomato soup recipe that I’ve adapted for this column.
Up until last week when I purchased this magical magazine, I thought that making soup was like getting an A in economics, only possible for the gifted and overachievers. But with a few ingredients and a working blender, making soup can be easier than ordering from House of Hunan.
And like any new skill, learning to make one soup only serves as my inspiration to try others. This will especially come in handy when spring allergies hit, as well as my desire to stay indoors coupled with a good movie and a warm bowl of soup.
Homemade tomato soup:
Ingredients:
-
Can of whole tomatoes (you
can also used diced tomatoes)
-
Olive oil
-
One onion, diced
-
Two small cloves of garlic
-
Italian seasoning
- Heavy whipping cream (you can also use water, but I think cream makes the soup thicker and tastier)
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan
- Place the diced onion in the saucepan
- Cook onions until soft; add minced garlic cloves
- Add can of whole tomatoes
- Add ½ cup of heavy whipping cream
- Sprinkle Italian seasoning
- Wait for mixture to boil
- Pour mixture into blender; set on liquefy
- Blend until the soup is a uniform thickness
- Serve with, of course, grilled cheese. This recipe serves two people, so feel free to share with your roommate. Or leave some for the next lazy day.
