Creamy Tomato Soup. With options.

A simple tomato soup is a recipe that should be in everyone's recipe box.  When we ate lots more cheese and had grilled cheeses sandwiches weekly, tomato soup was also a weekly occurrence   Since our switch, though, we've been consuming a lot less tomato soup.  In reality, why make a soup that doesn't have a protein component unless it's a side soup?  There are some dishes, though, that just beg for a small bowl of tomato soup.

In steps this recipe.

Originally an Ina Garten recipe, I tweaked it to fit our family.   In fact, I made extra because I wanted to experiment with it.  Thankfully the base recipe was great, so I was able to experiment away!

After doubling the soup (a total risk since it made a ton and I had never made it before!) I reserved half for one experiment   We enjoyed the soup that night as a side to some de.lish. chickpea salad wraps that will be on here later.  With the leftovers, though, we spooned it over some cooked quinoa as an easy lunch.  Can we say fabulous?  We also tried it with cooked barley -- I'm not sure which we liked better!

The other experiment was to try the whole rice&lentils with tomato soup route again.  Thankfully, things turned out this time.  I simply cooked 1 1/2 cups dry brown rice&lentils (3/4 cup each) in 3 cups of broth and added it to the 7 cups of soup.  It thickened it up and with a side of roasted balsamic green beans, it was a complete meal.

Now that you now all the things you can do with this base soup, go and have fun with it!

Creamy Tomato Soup
serves 4-6 (7 cups total)

• 1 TBLS olive oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 TBLS minced garlic
• 1 TBLS dry oregano or basil
• 1, 28oz can crushed tomatoes, with juice (fire roasted is optional, but recommended)
• 4 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• salt to taste

-- Heat oil in a large dutch oven.  Once hot, add onions and saute 15 minutes until golden brown.

-- Add garlic and saute another minute

-- Add tomatoes, broth and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

-- Add milk and continue to simmer 10 minutes until thick

-- Optional: puree with an immersion blender.