Cold Weather Comfort Soup

Creamy Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

This soup is absolutely one of my faves!  In fact, if I was told I had to eat one soup every day from now on, this is the one I'd choose.  I'm not much for measuring ingredients when I make soup so, except for the tomatoes and chicken broth, the amounts listed below are approximates.  The key to this soup is using Fire Roasted Tomatoes; I've used plain old diced tomatoes when I didn't have the others, but it really isn't the same soup.  And the best way to eat this soup is to add a few tablespoons of half & half for each serving.  When adding cream, always add it at the end - or if you're reheating the soup from fridge, add the cream when you put the soup in the pot and simmer it to heat it through.  Hope you love it as much as I do!

1 large Onion
1 medium Eggplant
1 medium Zucchini
Fresh Mushrooms (1/2 package or more?)
2 large cans (28oz) of Fire Roasted Tomatoes - MUIR GLEN brand is my #1 choice
2 cans Chicken Broth
1 tbsp Red Pepper (more or less depending on your taste)
4 tbsp Basil leaves
3 cloves crushed/minced Garlic

Chop Eggplant, Zucchini, and Onion.  Add to stock pot with 1 tbsp oil and cook over medium heat until vegetables start to become tender.  (Add Basil & Garlic as vegetables begin to cook.)  Add Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Chicken Broth and Red Pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour - soup will lose about an inch of liquid.  Blend with an immersion blender or let cool and blend in batches in a standard blender.  Add half & half or cream and heat through.  Yields approximately 12 cups.  (This soup freezes well, but do not add the cream before freezing.)

 

Sunny Drive

 

Ready to Grow

 

The Overseer

 

The Lookout

 

Lazy Day Blue

It has taken a little over a year to be able to enjoy a scene like this.  Only in the last few weeks has Ellee Blue  actually chosen on her own initiative to sit on the couch next to me.  She always wants to be next to me, but she's always been most comfortable on the floor.  So we've been working on it and now she seems to enjoy her place on the couch just as much as her place in her bed.  You see, Ellee spent the first three years of her life in a crate in a puppy mill.  As you can imagine, she's never really known how to be a "normal" dog.  And tonight, for the first time ever, she actually nuzzled up beside me, laid her head against my leg, and went to sleep.  That may not be a big deal to anyone else, but for this little rescue dog it's a HUGE step.  And it's great to know that when I'm sick and laying around sleeping all day, I don't have to feel guilty that my dog is laying on the floor feeling neglected because now she can join me for the lazy day on the couch. LOVE. THIS. DOG.
 

Frozen Glass

 

The Shuffle - #1

This is my first shot at taking a shuffling picture - I will figure out to make it work better . . .
 

Raindrops

 

Mystery Photo #2 - dog brush