day 11 = super easy grilled cheese and tomato soup

watch it's progress...

and for the finale...



sarah:

last week i came home to a "present." charley got me a new cookbook and he's been drooling over it ever since. today i got an email from him -- this is the entirety of the email:

Soup:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 celery stalks
4 garlic cloves
1 carrot
2 red peppers
1 28oz can plum tomatoes in juice
3 cups chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
1 bay leaf

1 tsp spanish paprika
salt and fresh ground pepper

Grilled Cheese:

Grab bread and whatever cheese you wish! (Typically American)

ok... i think charley wants grilled cheese and tomato soup. so, i picked up the ingredients (but i grabbed cheddar cheese because i don't like american) and thought i am in for a long night. much to my surprise, this took very little time and was super easy to clean. here's what i did:

soup:

1. turn on broiler; put peppers into oven and let broil until skin blackens, turning frequently
2. meanwhile...
3. heat oil in a saucepan over med-low heat
4. chop onion, celery, and garlic; throw in saucepan and stir until softened
5. chop carrot; throw in saucepan for 1 min
6. add tomatoes with their juice, the stock, sugar, and bay leaf
7. add salt and pepper
8. bring to boil at high-heat, then turn to med-low
9. cover soup and simmer for 45 mins
10. good time to check on the peppers :) place in a ziploc or plastic bag to capture the steam and let cool (this will allow for easy peeling of the skin)
11. pull red peppers out of bag and peel off skin; discard seeds
12. add red peppers and spanish paprika to the soup
13. puree in blender
14. adjust seasoning (add lots more salt, pepper, and spanish paprika) and serve!

grilled cheese:

1. heat a saucepan on med
2. butter both sides of bread slices you are using
3. add cheese to cover one side of each sandwich
4. assemble the sandwiches
5. place in the saucepan letting each side grill and the cheese melt
6. repeat making as many sandwiches as you need!

the grilled cheese came out great! the soup is really healthy (it's all vegetables), but i didn't think it had a lot of taste. i'd bump up the vegetables some to give it more than just a tomato taste.

charley:

let me be completely honest as i was the one who requested this and yes it was mainly for the grilled cheese.  you can't go wrong with tomato soup and grilled cheese (we will be having it at our wedding) and this was no exception.  the soup was light and i could taste everything that went into it.  very tasty and was a great addition to the sandwich.  the only problem with the meal was sarah would only allow me to have one grilled cheese (has to do with her wanting me to live forever!)  in the end she did let me have half of her sandwich.

enjoy!