Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram It’s a timeless question that every muffin-topped woman has asked herself, I believe. Curse you and your delicious ways, bread!! Why, why are you so good?? How’s everybody’s quarantine baby coming along? You know, the food baby that you’ve been working on since you’ve been sitting at home for the last 5 months. I know you. I remember the first time I gained weight. It was when I lived in Peru teaching English one summer in college. My Spanish was meh. I was super homesick. And a lot of the time I was bored to tears. What else was there to do besides buy cookies from the bajillion street vendors?? My weight gain also might have stemmed from inactivity. This was 2007, the year the final Harry Potter book was released. My mom, bless her heart, purchased a copy and mailed it as fast as she could, but that still put me about 2 weeks behind the rest of the world. Unacceptable. Eric and I were “on a break” at the time (false: I broke up with him before leaving for Peru and then had to come crawling back. Don’t worry. I groveled.) Anyway, he still liked me enough to help me find a 100% illegal website that had the entire book typed out in full. I sat for HOURS on end in a tiny internet cafe, feeding coins to the manager, my eyes bloodshot from staring at the screen. I’ll never forget the day when I was reading, and Ron left, and I had to go teach my class before I could come back to see if Ron ever came to his senses. Longest day of my life, you guys. (Actually that’s not true. A few months later when I asked Eric if he wanted to get back together, instead of sweeping me into his arms and kissing me, he said he needed a couple days to “think about it.” Those were probably the longest days of my life! I’m pretty lucky he took me back after my 15 pound cookie weight-gain situation. He must really love me, guys. 😉) One time my sister Nikki told me that she always ignores soup recipes when they say to “simmer.” As soon as all the ingredients are in, and it is hot and cooked, she serves it. (Nikki does not like being in the kitchen, can you tell? haha!) There is something to be said for getting the job done quickly, and hey, no one in her family has starved yet. But it’s true that soups get tastier the longer all the ingredients have to sit together and hang out. The flavors deepen. The same goes for this tomato soup. If you have time to let it simmer (say, 45 minutes or any hour), that’s great. Those flavors will indeed deepen. But if you only have time for a 10 minute simmer, it’s still going to taste pretty amazing with your grilled cheese. After simmering however long you choose, blend it up. Please buy an immersion blender for this task. It is SO much easier than transferring all your hot soup to a regular blender. Never fear, it can be done! But an immersion blender will save you a lot of hassle. If you use a regular blender, see the recipe below for tips on how to do it so that you don’t end up with hot tomato lava splattered all over your kitchen. Once all your soup is blended, add in some cream to thicken it up. Anywhere between 1/2 cup and 1 cup is perfect! The other best way is to add in a little bit of cream at the end. It gives your soup that luxurious, rich texture we all love. And voila! The easiest tomato soup, 10x better than canned soup, and only about 10 minutes longer to make. Dip your grilled cheese in and you’re on your way to heaven. Unless you’re Valentine, actually. Tonight we noticed that she was just eating her grilled cheese and not dipping. Eric told her she should dip. She said, “I tried that before…and I never want to do it again.” We died laughing. 3 year olds. You can’t reason with them.
Grilled Cheese Soup and salad is a classic for a reason. Try this Raspberry Avocado Salad, or this Apple Gorgonzola Salad. Buttery breadsticks Dip these Cheddar Bay Biscuits into your soup! Match made in heaven! Crusty One Hour French bread or French bread from the store. Toast it! Eat it with some sweet cornbread! with Oven roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts with Ultra Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits Add some cooked orzo pasta straight into your soup Serve a size of buttered egg noodles (kids love this) Serve with simple quesadillas It would be killer with this Garlic Rosemary Skillet Bread Try tomato soup with Reuben Stuffed Crescent Rolls or Bacon and Pepper-Jack Stuffed Crescent Rolls Or just regular homemade Crescent Rolls! How about with these Bacon and White Cheddar Scones? Serve with these Puffy Bacon Twists
So basically, salad or roasted veggies are your saving grace if you want to avoid bread and cheese. But honestly, if you want to avoid bread and cheese, maybe you shouldn’t make tomato soup. Cheesy carbs and creamy soup are just a match made in heaven, and a tragedy when they cannot be united!!
More recipe favorites to check out!
