Tomato Soup

This past weekend was all about food.  Opening the fridge brings a tear to my eye to see all the delicious home made options.  I love an action packed weekend but hate waking up Monday morning to an empty fridge.  Grocery shopping and meal prep take time and are sacrificed on occasion.  Training can suffer when there is no food around.  Nothing is worse than putting in a long hard effort and coming home and have to cook or pick up food.  Having food in the fridge puts my mind at peace and I can get in higher quality workouts.  By putting in work ahead of time it means I can be lazy later.  With the cool fall days here a warm meal is always welcome to warm my bones.  I made tomato soup among other things this weekend.  It is easily in my top five of comfort foods.

Tomato soup canned at left, whole tomatoes right.

            

This recipe provides a good foundation for improvisation with ingredients, texture, etc...  Chicken stock can be omitted for a vegan option.  Ingredients:

Olive Oil

1 Onion

1 - 2 Carrots

1 – 2 Stalks Celery

4 Cloves Garlic

6 Cups Tomato Juice

1 Cup loosely packed Basil

1 Cup Chicken Stock
½ tsb Salt

½ tsp Fresh Cracked Pepper

Parsley

Add olive oil to a soup pot to coat and heat on low.  Dice the Onions, carrots and celery and cook for 8 -12 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.  Mince the garlic and chop the basil and add to the pot.  Cook for a minute and add the chicken stock, tomato juice, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a slow boil on low heat and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.  Blend and enjoy with minced parsley just before serving.