Classic Tomato Soup from Enlightened Soups

When I logged in to begin writing this post, I was surprised to see this is the 300th post for Family, Friends and Food! That feels like it came awfully fast. Here we are finally in the beginning of Spring 2009, and this post is going to be about soup!

I recently received a copy of Enlightened Soups: More Than 135 Light, Healthy, Delicious and Beautiful Soups in 60 Minutes or Less and have marked several soups that I want to try from it. I wish there were pictures of every recipe in the book, but I can overlook that since there are about 24 pictures at the beginning of the book. I do like to see what the end result is "supposed" to look like before I make something whenever I can.

I chose the Classic Tomato Soup for a cool spring day that I had off of work. I had all the ingredients already in my pantry - helps having a well-stocked pantry - and was able to pull it together within the 30 minutes stated in the recipe. I tried to make some Parmesan cheese crisps to go with it, and will have to attempt that again as I didn't make them large enough and they fell apart on me.

I haven't figured out how to take a nice picture of a bowl of soup yet, so you'll have to believe me when I say that it looked as delicious as it tasted! The addition of cayenne pepper really added a level of flavor you wouldn't normally expect from tomato soup. I think that it really makes the soup so much better than what you would buy in the can. It is really simple to make so don't buy that can of soup anymore! Only 108 calories per serving, you could add a nice salad or a sandwich for a filling lunch.

Over the next week, I'll be sharing some family favorites for Passover.

Classic Tomato Soup
Source: Enlightened Soups, Camilla Saulsbury

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 (14.5 oz) cans whole tomatoes, undrained
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2/3 cup fat-free evaporated milk (from a 12 oz. can)
• 2 tablespoons sherry or marsala

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion, then season with salt & pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Add the garlic, then cook and stir for 1 minute.
2. Add the tomatoes and their juices, water, sugar, cayenne, celery seed, and oregano to the pan. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan and stir in the milk and sherry. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Rewarm for 2 minutes to blend flavors.

Makes 6 servings.