Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Soup and Salad Days


The other day my neighbor came by with a big bag of tomatoes from his garden. This is the second time he's done so, and I am thankful for the generosity. Last time I made a small batch of tomato sauce, this time I made Roasted-Tomato Soup With Parmesan Wafers. Move over Campbell's--I scoff at your puny offering! Easy to make--I roasted the tomatoes yesterday and finished it today. Roasting the tomatoes intensifies their inherent sweetness and the result is incredible dose of tomato-ness. The little bit of cream at the end is almost gilding the lily, but it adds another level of flavor. Many cooks commented that they skipped the straining step. I didn't and it is totally worth the extra time to get a completely silky smooth soup. I just pass it through a coarse chinoise--it gets all the seeds and stuff the blender doesn't get. I really love silky soups.
The roasted tomatoes--

Soup, beautiful soup--

Monday I made some salads for our dinner. The Ribboned Zucchini Salad is one that I make often. I use the recipe as only the barest of guides--and I skip the anchovy paste, endive, mint and basil. The olives too, are sometimes absent.
The garbanzo bean salad is just something I throw together with lemon juice and olive oil. Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions...whatever is around. Feta is nice too if you have it.

4 comments:

Denis Faye said...

That looks awesome. I can't grow tomatoes in my garden because the d**m opossums eat them.

They don't seem to eat cucumbers or watermelon, though.

MaryRuth said...

All possums must die.
And raccoons.
And squirrels.
They eat my precious avocadoes.

Miss Healthypants said...

This all looks so awesome! I really should learn how to cook someday. :)

MaryRuth said...

MHP--whaaaa? Cooking is a breeze! I taught myself (except for gravy...my mom taught me that). You just have to pay attention, and you seem to have that part down....just DO it! Make what you like and what seems good to you. Less is more.
Thanks for the compliment.
P.S. I'm going to WI on Tuesday..yahoo!