National Soup Month

Did you know that January is National Soup Month? I didn't, until I visited my local Starbucks about a week ago, where a ploy-for-tips survey informed me of this fact. Obvs it makes sense, given that much of the nation typically is in a deep-freeze in January, and soup is a perfect antidote to blustery days.

I love soup. Love, love, love it. I eat it several times a week - mostly of the canned variety (and only Health Valley no-salt added, btw). Today I decided to make my own, because as much as I love Health Valley, it is kind of expensive and ultimately not as healthy as the real deal.

Not-So-Basic Tomato Soup
Source: The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, by Tosca Reno

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs fresh tomatoes (use a mixture of romas, field, heirloom, etc.)
• 1 tbsp evoo
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. fresh basil leaves (used a bunch of dried oregano instead)
• 1 tsp honey
• sea salt and fresh pepper (skip)
• juice of one fresh lemon (didn't use fresh)

Directions:

• Wash tomatoes and remove green crowns.
• Boil a lot of water. Place whole tomatoes in boiling water just long enough to split and loosen their outer skin. Remove tomatoes from water and place in a bowl of ice water. When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, loosen the skins with your hands. Quarter the tomatoes and remove the hard inner core.
• In a Dutch oven, heat the evoo over med-high heat. Place all the tomatoes in the pot. Add 1/2 c. water. Bring mixture to a boil and immediately reduce heat. Add basil, cover and simmer for approx. 30 mins or until soft, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• Place a food mill over a large bowl. Transfer cooked tomatoes to the food mill and slowly turn to make a puree. If you do not own a food mill (seriously - who does??), use a hand blender or blend in small batches in a regular blender.
• Return pureed soup to saucepan and simmer. Add in honey and lemon juice, and season with salt/pepper. Serve hot.

Yield: 6 servings (1 c. /serving)
Per serving: 95 cals; 3g protein; 16g carbs; 4g fiber; 3g fat; 10g sugars; 19mg sodium

Reviews:
Positive: I made the entire recipe while the baby was napping. And it tastes pretty good. Negatives: This was a pain. It made a huge mess. Removing the skins by hand and hand-blending resulted in a seriously tomato-splattered kitchen. I did not end up pureeing the soup to a super-smooth consistency because of the mess.

Ranking:
Two Forks - I like the flavor a lot, but the mess is not worth it.

Soup