comfort food.

Doesn't that look comforting?

Today, being the first work day after we're back on standard time, meant that I watched the sun set from my desk chair, and biked home in the dark. This time of year is tough in the northern hemisphere -- I have to say that it's pretty difficult to motivate myself to do anything when it's dark out *before* I get home from work. Especially things like stopping at the grocery store.

I'd settled on making a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner (because seriously, why wouldn't I make one), but was toying with the idea of making tomato soup. (And because, dear reader, you've already seen the picture, you know that I succeeded.) I'm not usually a huge fan of tomato soups; they're often too sweet for me. But as a dipper for a grilled cheese sandwich, I have a higher tolerance.

I figured there must be a recipe for tomato soup that calls for canned tomatoes (which I have), and various other ingredients that I could probably manage. Turns out, there are lots of recipes for tomato soup out of canned tomatoes. (Learn something every day!) I ended up making kind of a composite recipe from here, here, and here. Sorta. Here's what I ended up with:

Ingredients
half an onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 14.5oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
salt, pepper, italian seasoning to taste
1/4 cup parmesean cheese (optional)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk

Instructions
1) Saute the onion and garlic in a saucepan with the olive oil. Once they're soft, add the tomatoes and broth.
2) Add salt/pepper/spices/butter. Stir until the butter's melted, add about half the cheese. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, lower heat and cover.
3) Cook 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. I cooked mine until I could cut one of the onion pieces in half with a rubber spatula. Add the milk.
4) Remove from heat. Use an immersion blender to blend the veggies.
5) Put pot back on the stove and add the rest of the cheese (if desired). Simmer and stir for another 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

It still came out a little on the sweet side (hence the second dose of cheese), but like I said, as a dipper for a grilled cheese sandwich, it's still pretty tasty. If I had to do it over again, I would use plain basil instead of the italian seasoning (I should buy some, I think that for not having basil in my kitchen I should probably turn in my apron), because the italian seasoning kind of gives it a tomato sauce sort of flavor.

But yeah, homemade tomato soup is a win. Definitely better than canned soup, definitely better than a lonely grilled cheese sandwich, and relatively easy to boot.