There's nothing quite as homespun as a bowl of tomato soup with a classic grilled cheese sandwich.
What's not to love about a tomato soup spiked with orange zest, spices, sweet onions, and garlic? Simmer it with vegetable broth instead of chicken and everyone, no matter what their eating proclivities, will enjoy it.
Ingredients
The tomato/meat base of this ragout will work with any shape of pasta. Just use this recipe as a trusty guide. The point is to use whatever meat you have, such as roast pork (or beef or lamb or poultry), and heat it quickly with canned tomatoes to make a succulent sauce. Keep in mind that the meat is already cooked to perfection, so it takes very little time to come together.
This salad says summer and is a foil for the steak. It is a simplified version of one I ate recently in Spain.
This is the real thing, straight from Spain and translated for us by the ever-diligent David Rosengarten . For the best results, puree the vegetables in a Vita-Mix and strain through an Anolon cone strainer. If a Vita-Mix and Anolon strainer are not in your cupboard, it is delicious simply whirred in a food processor or blender.
Ingredients
This salsa fresca comes in handy when someone is intolerant to cilantro and the mint and parsley mixture gives it a very unique flavor that goes well with grilled meats.
My favorite way to use them is in a “tomato tasting” salad: Assemble as many varieties, colors, shapes, and sizes of very ripe tomatoes as you can find. Choose a few different “cuts” for variety; for example, cut small yellow pears in half lengthwise to reveal their curves, big beefsteaks in large rectangular chunks, small ridged ones crosswise in thick slices, and some of different colors in small wedges. Arrange them in groups on a long shallow platter and season generously with salt, fresh pepper, and olive oil. As your guests hover expectantly, let the tomatoes sit for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour. Serve with a spoon for the juices.
This soup tastes like it comes from Provence's culinary central casting.