Day 21- A Recipe

Day 21 - a recipe.
How fitting, a recipe after I talked all about my love of baking and cooking. Now how do I narrow it down?
 
I get recipes from all over the place-Martha. I have a love/hate relationship with Martha Stewart. I love her stuff, her crafts, her recipes but who the hell has the time and energy to do all that?!
 
I also get recipes from Vegetarian Times. R is a vegetarian and I am not. We mostly do vegetarian meals at home because neither of us wants to cook two different meals and it's just easier.  If R cooked all the time it would seriously be pasta with red sauce, veggies with rice, veggie burgers, and maybe some canned soup thrown in there to mix it up, day after day! But I often get bored with the same old pasta and rice dishes so I look for new grains and beans to use for protein and fiber.
 
We do a lot of ethnic dishes. I love Asian food and can make a pretty decent veggie sushi roll.
 
I've been on a real soup kick lately. I like soup but can't stand the horrible stuff they put in cans. Plus, when we went on our trip after Stella died we had the most amazing tomato soup at this little place in Sedona, AZ. I think I have gotten pretty darn close to matching it! I make a great asparagus soup and tomato soup and corn chowder.
 
I think my love of cooking stems from not only liking food a lot but also I like to follow directions. I like to pick up a recipe and make something new by following the steps. I'm a rule follower! R will often tell me something he wants to eat and I find a recipe and make it for him. He loves it and raves about my latest creation-beer battered onion rings! Way easier to make than you'd think.
 
Anyway, enough rambling. Here's my recipe, my favorite of the moment:
 
 
Tomato Soup (great when served with grilled cheese sandwiches!!)
 
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup veggie broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

I think I just decided on dinner tonight!



And I want to thank those other BLMs out there that leave me comments and send me emails. I cannot tell you how much you give me comfort. Well I guess you understand because you've been there too. Even though we may all be at different points in this journey I see myself in each of you and gain strength from knowing I'm not alone. Thank you, thank you, thank you.