Salad, Creamy Tomato Soup and Gooey Grilled Cheese

I got a new cookbook a couple of weeks ago that had a tomato soup recipe in it that I wanted to try. It was actually a very easy recipe, and it turned out very, very good. It was creamy and very tasty and even my daughter kept coming back to the stove to steal spoonfuls of it before I actually served it. There was a bit of complaint from my autistic son because he could feel the finely processed onions in his mouth. That is a shame, really, because he seemed to really like the taste of the soup itself. I will continue to experiment with different ways to reduce that tactile annoyance for him.

This is comfort food, though. Hot tomato soup and gooey grilled cheese. Perhaps a bit more fat than we'd like, but certainly much better than eating out. Besides, there are things that can be done to reduce the fat content if you choose. You can use low fat cheese, or the substitute butter spread. However you make grilled cheese is up to you, and I will probably not include the recipe. I simply butter the bread, add the cheese and cook in skillet until done. The salad was a simple one. Torn lettuce, some cherry tomatoes, a bit of Parmesan, shredded carrots, diced hard-boiled egg and dressing of choice.

This really is very easy and very good.

*************************************************************

Creamy Tomato Soup
Serves 4 to 6

• 2 cups of 100% tomato juice
• 2 teaspoons of finely chopped onions (use a food processor)
• 2 tablespoons of butter or acceptable substitute
• 1 1/2 teaspoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups of 2% milk (substitute half the milk with half-and-half for richer soup)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Melt butter in skillet. Add the flour and onions. Cook until onions brown. Set aside.

Combine milk and tomato juice and cook over medium heat until warmed, but do not boil. Stir in the flour/onion mixture and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring often. Add sugar and remove from heat.

Serve immediately.