Happy, Happy Friday!
I am so excited to be nearing the end of the week. It has been in the negative degrees here in Flagstaff, so anything (aka Saturday) that gives me an excuse to not climb into my freezing cold car and to instead snuggle under a warm blanket is a-OK to me!
Do you know what else is great on cold days?
Soup! (Good segway, no, no? Don’t answer that.)
This soup ain’t your mama’s tomato soup. No offense to my mama, but I have never liked tomato soup. It has always tasted too metallic, too… one-dimensional. This soup blows old ones out of the water. It is like the Ironman– no, the Superman— of soups. Bold, fire-roasted tomatoes are blended with sweet and aromatic basil, sauteed onion, and a touch of cold-fighting garlic! Then the whole thing is made delectably creamy with some cream cheese that melts into the base like pure heaven. That’s right: pure. freaking. heaven.
This wasso so good you guys. Almost as good as Alton Brown (have I mentioned my obsession enough yet?). It would be as good as him, but, well, it can’t teach me molecular science. And if any soup was doing that, it probably wouldn’t be safe to eat.
Just sayin’.
Creamy Fire-Roasted Tomato-Basil Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 6 Serving Size: 1 cup soup Calories/Serving: 94
Ingredients:
- 1tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 and 1/2c. diced white or yellow onion
- 1/4c. minced shallot
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1/2c. chopped fresh basil leaves
- 2 (14.5oz each) cans of lower-sodium fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
- 4oz (about 1/2c.) fat free cream cheese, cut into small cubes
- 2c. unsweetened original almond milk from the unrefrigerated carton
- 1/4tsp black pepper
- red pepper flakes, if desired
Instructions:
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, onion, and shallot and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss in the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Add the basil and tomatoes to the pot, along with cream cheese cubes. Heat over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until mix is boiling and cream cheese has melted (the soup will now be a lighter red color).
- Using an immersion blender (or working in batches in a normal blender), blend the soup until creamy and smooth. Stir in the milk and pepper, and bring back to a simmer before serving. Garnish with red pepper flakes, if desired. Tastes awesome for up to 5 days!
