Labor Day Tomato Soup  

Leslie made tomato soup today that was delicious. We also had finger sandwiches on these amazing crackers from Costco.

The soup:
Sauteed garlic and diced sweet onion were joined by whole mushrooms, oregano, basil, cilantro, cracked pepper, sea salt, and a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper.

When these were crackling hot, a sixteen ounce can of diced tomatoes were added, stirred, and joined by a can of water. Which turned out to be hopelessly unnecessary since I was smart enough to grab another can of tomato sauce instead of tomato paste. So another 8 ounces of sauce were added, making a nice, well, soupy soup.

To firm things up a bit, some rice was stirred in and simmered with the soup for a while, and then a couple of large handfuls of spinach were added. The texture was much improved. Here's immediately post-spinach:



We enjoyed the soup with a dollop of yogurt cheese and a hunk of whole-clove garlic bread:

Questa zuppa di pomodora c'era squisito!

The crackers:
On one whole grain crackers, we spread hummus, while on the other end of the sandwich, Swiss cheese. In between were slices of cucumber with a couple of sun-dried tomatoes.


Also, RIP to the Beer Hunter Michael Jackson, an inspiring writer and the original Beer Advocate. More information in the New York Times obituary.