(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What's for Dinner? vol.18.15: Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-14 The rainy season has arrived here in our corner of SW Oregon! It has been chilly and gray with lots of rain so we have been enjoying more comfort foods and one of the top ones is tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I think it has been on other folks’ minds too as I noted comments in last week’s WFD about it so I thought it would be the perfect topic for my WFD. What’s for Dinner? is a Saturday evening get-together where friends share recipes, talk about good food and help others answer culinary questions. We welcome you to our virtual table every Saturday evening 4:30 PT/7:30 ET. If you would like to write a post for an upcoming date just send a message to ninkasi23! When it comes to tomato soup there are many variations and additions so if you have a favorite that you would like to share please do! With that said, here are three versions that we have been making around here lately and they use canned tomatoes so can be made any time: This is a rich tomato soup with a nice smoky heat from chipotle in adobo. Weeknight Tomato Soup from Brian Lagerstrom ingredients: 2 28oz cans whole peeled tomato 1 medium red onion, chopped 30-40g or 8 cloves sliced garlic 50-60g or 4Tbsp olive oil 15g or 2 1/2tsp salt 15g or 3 2/3tsp sugar 750g/mL or 3c chicken stock (+ additional 75g or so to thin soup if needed) 40g or 3Tbsp tomato paste 1 chipotle chili in adobo (optional) Grated parmesan cheese Chives, minced Additional olive oil (for garnish) Pepper directions: Preheat oven to 450F/232C. Add canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, sugar, chicken stock, tomato paste, and chili in adobo to large baking dish or Dutch oven. Stir ingredients to combine and roast in the oven for 1 hour, stirring halfway through. After 60-75 minutes of roasting, remove from the oven, carefully ladle half of the “soup” into a blender, and blend on high until smooth (obviously this stuff will be hot so use caution) . If using a Dutch oven you can do this with an immersion blender instead. We often skip the next step of straining and go with a slightly chunkier texture. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer over a sauce pot and force soup through to create a silky texture. Repeat with the second half of the unblended soup. If needed, add additional chicken stock to thin to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt. Garnish with chives, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Next up is a creamy version that is dairy-free! In fact this is can be a vegan tomato soup if you don’t garnish with Parm;) Creamy white beans make this a lovely tomato soup! Creamy White Bean & Tomato Soup from Love & Lemons ingredients: 1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 2 carrots, chopped splash of white wine (or a few teaspoons balsamic vinegar) 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme 2 cups vegetable broth ¼ cup raw cashews (optional, for extra creaminess) 1½ cups cooked cannellini beans, divided 3 cups baby spinach ½ teaspoon sea salt, more to taste freshly ground black pepper Instructions Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, and then add the garlic and carrots. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent and the carrots begin to soften, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, breaking them up in the pot with a wooden spoon. Season with more salt and pepper and cook for 8 more minutes, or until the tomatoes cook down and continue to break apart. Add the wine, stir and let the alcohol cook off for about 1 minute. Add the cashews, if using, HALF of the white beans, the thyme sprigs, the broth and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the thyme sprigs from the pan and carefully pour the mixture into a blender, working in batches if necessary. Blend the soup then season to taste with salt, pepper. If the soup is too thick, add a little more broth or water. Pour the blended soup back into the pot. Add the remaining beans and the spinach and simmer over low heat until the spinach is wilted and the soup is hot. Season to taste and serve. We left out the spinach but did add a splash of balsamic vinegar and some grated Parmesan cheese to the finished soup. The third version is a bit of a departure from what you might expect but it is a delicious soup. It comes via Hong Kong/China and is the kind of thing that varies between households but is a comfort food for many: Highly addictive salty and sweet with lots of slurp! Tomato and Egg Drop Noodle Soup from Bon Appetit ingredients: 2½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ Morton kosher salt, divided, plus more 1 small yellow or red onion 2 garlic cloves 1 1" piece ginger 1 scallion 12 oz. instant ramen or other wheat noodles 2 Tbsp. grapeseed or vegetable oil 1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water 4 large eggs Pinch of freshly ground white pepper 3 Tbsp. (or more) light or dark brown sugar or granulated sugar Toasted sesame oil or chili oil Maggi seasoning sauce or soy sauce (for serving) Fill a small Dutch oven or large saucepan with water, season with salt, and bring to a boil. While water is coming to a bowl, prep your vegetables. Peel 1 small onion, halve, and thinly slice into half-moons. Smash and peel garlic, then finely chop. Scrape skin from one 1" piece ginger with a spoon. Thinly slice ginger; stack slices two at a time and cut into matchsticks. Line up matchsticks and cut crosswise into tiny squares. Finely chop 1 scallion; set aside for serving. Add 12 oz. instant ramen or other wheat noodles to the pot of boiling water and cook according to package directions until just tender. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water; set aside. Dry pot and reserve. Heat oil in reserved pot over medium-high. Add onion and cook, stirring constantly, until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds Add one 28-oz. can diced tomatoes and 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water to pot. Reduce heat to medium, cover pot with a lid, and cook broth until flavors have come together, 10–15 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk 4 large eggs, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, and a pinch of freshly ground white pepper in a large measuring glass or a small bowl with a lip. Uncover broth and stir in 3 Tbsp. light or dark brown or granulated sugar and add ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ Morton kosher salt. Taste and add more sugar and/or salt if needed. The broth should be slightly sweet and a little tart. Increase heat to medium-high and bring broth to a boil. Very slowly trickle beaten eggs into soup (no need to stir). Cook eggs until set, 30–60 seconds from when you start pouring. Remove soup from heat. The egg doesn’t need to be totally cooked through—it will continue to cook in the residual heat of the broth. Rinse noodles under running water again to loosen them up. Divide among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Drizzle with toasted sesame oil or chili oil and Maggi seasoning sauce or soy sauce and top with reserved scallions. Ok, so that’s the soup. How about a classic grilled cheese? I first learned the trick of using mayonnaise on the outside of a grilled cheese from Kenji Lopez-Alt but recently we ran across this as a tried and true method that uses both mayo and butter. It has become our preferred method for a perfectly toasted and melty sandwich: Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich from NYT Cooking ingredients: 4 slices sandwich bread butter mayonnaise 2-4 oz grated cheddar cheese (depending on the size of your bread) directions: Heat a heavy pan over medium-low heat. Thinly spread one side of each bread slice with butter. Spread the other side of each slice with mayonnaise and place the bread, mayonnaise-side-down, in the pan. Divide the cheese evenly on top of the buttered slices. Adjust the heat so the bread sizzles gently. When the cheese is about halfway melted, use a spatula to flip one slice over on top of the other, and press lightly to melt. Keep turning the sandwich, pressing gently, until the sandwich is compact, both sides are crusty, and the cheese is melted. Now I know many will argue that if you add things other than cheese that it’s no longer a “grilled cheese” but for the sake of comity let’s just agree that these grilled sandwiches are also a great accompaniment for a bowl of soup. The flavor combo of feta, sun-dried tomato, and mozzarella is so tasty! Medi Grilled Cheese with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Feta inspired by a Hello Fresh meal. 4 slices sourdough bread 2 oz feta cheese 2 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded about 2 tbsp of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fine 1 oz of butter (if you have some Garlic Parsley Butter this is a perfect time to use it) 1 tsp olive or vegetable oil Spread butter on one side of bread slices. Top 2 of the slices, buttered side up, with feta, sun-dried tomato, and mozzarella. Top with other slices of bread, buttered side down. Heat a drizzle of oil (olive oil or vegetable is fine) in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the sandwiches and fry until golden-brown on each side. Slice on the diagonal (because everyone knows triangles just taste better!) and serve. Honey Apple Cheddar and Bacon Panini from Half Baked Harvest Mise en place for the paninis. ingredients: 8 slices sourdough bread 4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature 4 Tbsp apple butter 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 1 1/2 cups shredded havarti cheese (I used sliced) 1 honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced 8 slices cooked bacon honey, for drizzling 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves directions: 1. Heat a Panini press or large skillet over medium high heat. 2. Spread the outside of each slice of bread with butter. Spread the inside of half of the slices of bread with apple butter. On top of the apple butter, evenly layer the cheeses, apples, and bacon. Drizzle honey over top and sprinkle with thyme. Add the top piece of bread, buttered side facing up. 3. Place the sandwiches, one at a time, into the Panini press and cook until the cheese is melted. Serve each sandwich with a drizzle of honey and fresh thyme. Tonight we are having a “Cheeseburger w/o the Bun Bowl” courtesy of Hello Fresh. What’s for dinner at your place? Feel welcome to post pics, questions, and recipes here! We love to share our love of food & cooking every Saturday evening! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/14/2199304/-What-s-for-Dinner-vol-18-15-Tomato-Soup-amp-Grilled-Cheese?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/