Good & Good For You: Creamy Tomato Soup

 

 After such a long hot summer, fall is a welcome relief!  With fall, come the cravings for great fall foods:  pumpkin and apple dishes, warm chewy breads, and thick soups.  Two of my favorites are leftover from grade school:  beef vegetable soup with peanut butter sandwiches and creamy tomato soup with grilled American cheese sandwiches. 

Campbell's or Progresso?  I could do that but for just a little bit more time I can have creamy tomato soup from my  pantry that still has tomato-y goodness but with a much more complex herby fresh taste I yearn for as an adult. 

 

Creamy  Tomato Soup

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse

Ingredients

• 2 14.5 oz cans Diced Tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup celery, minced
• 1/4 cup onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• t -3 tsp brown sugar (use smallest amount first, increase to taste)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup fat free half & half (or any fat percent of milk--the higher the cream count, the creamier the soup but the lower the cream count the lower the calorie count)
• Optional:  1 cup chicken broth

Directions:

In dutch oven or heavy bottomed soup pot, saute garlic, celery, and onion in olive oil until onion is translucent. 

Add tomatoes, thyme, and brown sugar (to soften the acidity in the tomatoes, not to sweeten).  Bring to a boil.  Turn down and simmer for 30 minutes.  

Stir in cream.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cream together with stick blender (or can leave chunky). I like the texture of partially blended, so a little creamy and a little chunky.

Makes 5 cups.

Nutrition per cup:   Calories:  66;      Protein:   3;   Carbs:   9.6;    Fat:   2.9;    Fiber:  2;  Weight Watchers Points:   1   plus 1 serving good fat.

 

Comments

[Paula in NH]

I made this for dinner last night. It was OK, but the overall comment was that it was missing something. Still it was better than canned soup.

[Glenna]

I appreciate you comments, Paula. Love hearing from you.

You know, it's going to sound weird but what your family might have been missing is a cup of chicken stock in it. I wanted something completely vegetarian (in this instance) but a lot of restaurant-style tomato soups have chicken stock in them. I also limited the sugar but a lot of tomato soups also have about 2-3 times the amount of sugar in them.

[Paula in NH]

Thanks for the feedback. I reheated the soup the next day and added oregano, basil and celery salt. It was better. I also used whole milk instead of cream so that may have been another problem. I will be making it again.

[Glenna]

Good.-- Me too. You know, now that you said that, I actually enjoyed the reheated version the next day better too. It must be the extra time for all the flavors to marry.