Figuring out what to cook tonight was a tad complicated as I had lots of ideas but a distinct lack of ingredients. Generally speaking, when I need to use up a mix and match of leftover veggies, soup is the way to go. The idea of making a homemade soup used to really scare me because I had only ever had soup out of a can (or in restaurants) and I had never seen anyone make it.
Since I moved out of my parent's house in September, my cooking has gotten much more daring because I had been thrust into a world where you need to make your own food or starve. Or order pizza.The first thing I taught myself to cook after transferring to solo apartment living was soup! Little did I know that it often just required making broth from bouillon and blending in spices and vegetables. SO EASY.
So, today, when I saw two and a half lonely tomatoes in my fridge and a couple carrots who had managed to escape last night's beef roast, the lightbulb went on. And what's a tomato soup without a fancy grilled cheese? Seeing as I still had a loaf of Artisan Bread in the freezer, I figured that would do the trick nicely.
Creamy Tomato and Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 2-3 large tomatoes
- 1 can of tomato paste
- 2 medium carrots
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half cream
- basil
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Dice tomatoes and put in the food processor. Blend and set aside in a large bowl.
- Wash carrots, chop them, and put in food processor. Add to tomato bowl. (Add some of the cream to help blend if necessary).
- Add remaining cream to same bowl.
- Add contents of bowl to chicken broth in a large pot.
- Add can of tomato paste to pot and mix.
- Bring mixture to a boil then turn down and simmer for 45 min or more until desired thickness has been reached (more time = thicker)
- Add spices to taste
Monte Cristo (makes 2)
Ingredients
- 4 slices of Artisan Bread (or other bread)
- Butter
- Butter
- 4 slices of deli ham
- Swiss cheese
- 2 eggs
- Splash of half and half cream (can be substituted for milk, but I only had cream on hand)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Butter bread slices
- Put together bread with ham and sliced cheese as you would ordinarily make a sandwich.
- Mix eggs and cream with salt and pepper in a small bowl
- Dip entire sandwiches in egg mix, coating evenly
- Fry in a frying pan until golden brown, keeping temperature low-medium to allow cheese time to melt
- Serve with Creamy Tomato and Carrot Soup
This recipe goes to show that even old leftover vegetables and crusty bread can be absolutely delicious, so there's no need to be wasteful. Especially for those on a frugal student budget like myself, using every scrap you buy is of the utmost importance!
In most other recipes, they ask that you cook the vegetables whole then blend them into the broth after. I found this to be a real pain, because I'm working with a tiny Magic Bullet blender, and that would mean I would have to ladle the broth and veggies in, blend, and repeat 5 times. This all sounded very time consuming and contradictory to my lazy nature. So i figured...why not blend them first then let them cook in the broth? It would let the flavours mix together and save me the tedious work! Ta-daaaaa!
I wasn't 100% sure that this method would work, but I'm here to happily report to my fellow kitchen sloths that it does, and it worked WELL.
You're welcome! :)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Butter bread slices
- Put together bread with ham and sliced cheese as you would ordinarily make a sandwich.
- Mix eggs and cream with salt and pepper in a small bowl
- Dip entire sandwiches in egg mix, coating evenly
- Fry in a frying pan until golden brown, keeping temperature low-medium to allow cheese time to melt
- Serve with Creamy Tomato and Carrot Soup
This recipe goes to show that even old leftover vegetables and crusty bread can be absolutely delicious, so there's no need to be wasteful. Especially for those on a frugal student budget like myself, using every scrap you buy is of the utmost importance!
In most other recipes, they ask that you cook the vegetables whole then blend them into the broth after. I found this to be a real pain, because I'm working with a tiny Magic Bullet blender, and that would mean I would have to ladle the broth and veggies in, blend, and repeat 5 times. This all sounded very time consuming and contradictory to my lazy nature. So i figured...why not blend them first then let them cook in the broth? It would let the flavours mix together and save me the tedious work! Ta-daaaaa!
I wasn't 100% sure that this method would work, but I'm here to happily report to my fellow kitchen sloths that it does, and it worked WELL.
You're welcome! :)
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