Recipe #109 Tomato Soup

Snow Soup 

It’s snowing again. I’m dogsitting again, near town. Being close to civilization is slightly unnerving, but the proximity makes running to the grocery store, getting to work early and meeting up with friends much more convenient. However, things here remain a bit stale and contrived. I miss being able to wander around the snowy fields outside the farmhouse steps. It’s only been five days, but I kind of miss the company of my crazy roommate. He sent me a photo of a soup he made tonight and I instantly became jealous, pulled an only child move and threw together my own.

I followed this recipe, almost to a tee. I added an extra carrot and an extra stick of celery, which accounts for the not so red coloring of this soup. I added extra garlic and sugar as well, but am not sure how much, probably twice as much of each. The hidden and most overlooked ingredient in soup is hot sauce. Nobody wants a soup devoid of any type of spice, particularly vegetarian soups. If peppers, chili flakes etc are missing then hot sauce is the most necessary addition.

This soup is vegan as well, which makes my heart happy. In a perfect world, I would be able to function without animal byproduct, but milk, cheese and eggs are some of my favorite foods. I think a good four month vegan stint would be fun-ish to attempt. If that day ever comes this vegan soup will be on the list of meals to make.

I made a grilled cheese to accompany mine. I don’t mean a fancy grilled cheese either. We are talking two pieces of bread and that gross single wrapped, bright orange, American cheese. It’s the only time where this cheese surpasses all the rest. It brings me back to my younger years; the rainy evenings where my mom would crack open a can of Campbell’s and make a grilled cheese with Kraft singles. It’s the perfect dipping sando for tomato soup. My fancy grilled cheese will eventually pop up, a likely combination of fig, walnut and brie, but I think I’ll wait until spring for this creation.

Takeaways: Cooking for one can be fun.

Who tasted the tomato? Me! and the pup I was dogsitting. Like most labs, he will eat anything.

March 5, 2014. Day 104. Recipe #109.