Vegetarian Tomato Soup with Bacon Recipe

 Day 35.



As usual, I'd planned an Italian meal for today's dinner. This was not it. However, my neighbor and I decided to do our big Once-A-Month Cooking Day today and I was just too exhausted to cook another meal when we got home. (The OAMC cooking was awesome, but my feet hurt. I need a squishy kitchen mat.) So, instead, I opened up one of my packages and served that up. So, it's still Italian...ish. Tomato Soup with Bacon Bits and we had ours with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches made with that leftover yummy Chickpea Bread.



Tomato Soup with Bacon

Ingredients

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp. finely diced green onion

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

2 Tbsp. thyme

1/2 Tbsp. basil

1 C "Bacon" bits (I added about 1 Tbsp. of liquid smoke this time to punch up the flavor, also)

3 oz. tomato paste

1/2 C half and half

1 C vegetable broth

Salt

Sugar, to taste



Directions

Place all ingredients, except cream in crock pot. Cook on low for 3-4 hours. Add cream, continue cooking until heated through and serve.



Adapted from Tomato Soup recipe via Tricia at Onceamonthmom.com.



The Results

Holy moly. I thought to myself, "Self, is it really worth making your own tomato soup? Well, that stuff DOES have HFCS, so OK, I guess." But oh my goodness, this is such a different soup! It's hearty and basilly and rich and delicious. And wowza does that chickpea bread make great grilled cheese. I highly recommend both of these. Together or apart.



What's your favorite comfort food? Grilled cheese and tomato soup is definitely near the top of my list.



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