Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup II

This has been sounding really good to me lately. Finally it seems life has slowed down, for the next few hours at least, so I can cut, drizzle, season and roast! Wash, dry and rough cut the following vegetables onto one or two baking sheets.

2¾# tomatoes

2 big carrot

1 lg. yellow bell pepper

2 lg. stalks celery

1 lg. purple onion

LOTS of peeled garlic cloves

Greek Kalamata Olive EVOO

Lowry's Garlic Salt w/ Parsley

Italian Seasoning

black pepper

Drizzle the olive oil over everything. Season, then roast in a preheated 400° oven for 20-30 minutes. Everything but the tomatoes was done in

When they're browned or charred the way you want, let them cool a bit, then pull the tomato skins off, if they slip off easily. Put all the vegetables in a big stock pot.

1/3c ± dark, aged Balsamic vinegar
2-3T Better Than Bouillon-chicken

Drizzle the vinegar over them and put the pot on medium heat. When the vegetables heat, to just barely simmering, stir, then add enough chicken or vegetable broth-stock, 1-2 quarts or so.

Bring this up to a low-bubbly simmer. Cover and continue to simmer a half hour.

Take off the heat and let cool a bit before blending it with a standard, or immersion blender. Check the seasonings and make any additions or corrections.

If you want to add half and half, heavy cream or sour cream, do this when the soup has cooled to body or room temperature. Whisk it in and heat again.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of dill, grated flavorful cheese, some nuts or seeds sprinkled on top - any or all of these. Obviously this would pair great with a grilled cheese sandwich or some crusty garlic bread. 

Chill or freeze for later. . .Lin

Spicy Tomato Pesto Oil -and- VERY Spicy Pepper Oil

The peppers I used were very long and skinny, brigh tred and green, looking more like a seedpod you'd see hanging from a tree than a pepper.  The Anaheims I've used in the past are like a thinned down version of a Pablano.  That same dark green.  So. . .when it comes to peppers, unless you're a fan of fire in your mouth, throat and the oil burning your hands for hours, even after about a dozen hand washes. 🥵 .Be Careful! 

Pepper Oil:  Blend the peppers with 6-8oz. good quality EVOO.  Pulse a while to be sure the peppers are broken up, then blend a minute or so on high.  Scrap everything down and blend another minute.  Store in the refrigerator in a clean glass bottle with a pouring spout and use in place of hot sauce, in salsa, add a drizzle while browning meat for soup or stew or spaghetti.  Pretty much in anything that needs a big jolt of heat.  Shake well before pouring.

Spicy Tomato Pesto Oil:  Follow the same procedure as used for the pepper oil using 6-8oz. good quality EVOO and oven dried-roasted tomato slices.  Add lots of sautéed garlic and fresh Genovese basil.  Pulse, scrape down, blend at least a minute on high speed.  Pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator.  I've had this twice now over pasta.  This time I sautéed mushrooms, added sliced grape tomatoes and drained olives.

Stir up the pesto and add 3T.  If needed, add a few tablespoons of the pasta water and bring back to a simmer  This was so good!! . . . Lin

A Massive Vegetable Roast. . .😁

I just realized that. . .I have too many vegetables right now 😳 as an obsessive Foodie, this can happen.  Rather than just feed some to the dogs and neighborhood bunnies. . .

Time To Roast!!

🌶🍠🧄🍄🥔🍅🧄🌽🥕🍅🧄🧅🥦🧄 and even a🍍!

I'm going to use the same ingredients to coat everything, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, pepper and garlic salt, in case this isn't quite enough garlic 😁 Mix coating ingredients in a big bowl and replenish as needed.  Roast in batches for different lengths of time since they all have their own density and susceptibility to heat.  I don't know the times, just stay with this and keep checking.  This will be a kitchen day.  Work on those projects while roasting.  Clean the kitchen, organize a cabinet.  If you walk off or get distracted, things will burn!

I'm not sure how anyone else peels this quantity of garlic, but I cut the end off each clove, heat a container of water until it feels hot, not boiling and drop them all in at once.  This will let the water do its thing.  Leave them a couple minutes, stirring a few times.  Drain them in a strainer and start peeling.  This pile of garlic only took less than 5 minutes to peel.  The warm water gets between the papery skin and the garlic breaking that bond and the skin pops right off.

I'll zip-lock these in compatible flavor groups for future Roasted  Blended Vegetable soups, or to add to a pot of roasted meat at the end for a stew.  Line a jellyroll pan (cookie sheet with short side and end walls) with parchment paper.  You can reuse the papered trays two or three times before changing the paper. It'll go from brown to burnt quickly. This happened during my tomato roasting.

One caution, I used more vinegar than I should have.  My vegetables didn't brown and crisp up like they should.  I used about a 3:1 ratio of oil:vinegar.  I think about a 15:1 ratio would be better.  Use mostly EVOO with just a splash of vinegar.  I let the tomatoes and peppers dry in the oven overnight. I forgot about the beets I have in my 'fridge and I didn't get to the pineapple.  It's a wonderfully rainy day today.  The oven will take the dampness out of the kitchen, while roasting those later.

Be SO careful when roasting any peppers other than sweet bell peppers.  Those long skinny ones set my hands on fire.  It happened once before, years ago, when my children were young.  The pain lasted two days.  This time I knew what to do.  Put straight liquid dish soap on your hands and work it in for a couple minutes before rinsing.  The detergent will emulsify the oils in the pepper if used without water.  Rinse this off completely with cool water.  This time the pain only lasted a few hours. I don't want to leave them in a form that will cause pain to anyone, externally or internally 😦 so, today I'm going to put them in my blender with a little olive oil and blend until they liquify.  I'll use the pepper oil to spice up my cooking. . .Happy Roasting! . .Lin 

Oven Roasted Roma Tomatoes

I found a great farm stand in West Duluth near the Riverside neighborhood where my Granddaughter and her family live.  I've bought beautiful corn, peppers, potatoes, onions there and this last time they were selling quart containers of mixed heirloom cherry and grape tomatoes!  Green, purple, orange, red, oh they're so beautiful and fresh!  I also bought these 7 perfect roma tomatoes that I decided to roast and probably freeze, later, for future sauces and soups.

Scrub the tomatoes then slice lengthwise about ¼" thick.  Layer in a big glass bowl and drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with your favorite seasonings.

I used my Rosemary Seasoning and dry tarragon this time, but an Italian or Tuscan seasoning, dry garlic-herb, or chili-lime seasoning would be nice.  When they're well coated, arrange in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Drizzle with the liquid in the bowl and bake at 300⁰ for about an hour.  They should be shrinking and darkening as the liquid evaporates and the sugars caramelize.  Reduce the oven temperature to 200⁰ for another 30-60 minutes.  Shut off the heat and let the slices dry overnight before using or storing.

I try to limit my intake of nightshade vegetables which are known to cause problems with inflammation in the body.  Nightshades are primarily tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and potatoes (not sweet potatoes though).  Additionally, peanuts, lentils, beans, wheat and other grains as well as the skin and seeds from cucumbers and zucchini are high in lectins, another inflammatory factor.  So, these days, I try to keep those foods to a minimum, but really savor them when I do include them in a recipe.

As I smell these roasting I'm thinking once the slices dry and get a bit leathery, I might chop and combine them with a little tomato (or basil) pesto, pine nuts or sunflower seeds, some heavy cream and fresh grated parmesan, (mushrooms? capers?) as a pink sauce over pasta.  Mmmm. . .  They can be packed tightly in a glass jar which is then filled with olive oil.  They'll keep this way, in the refrigerator for up to a month.  Or freeze them in a quart size zip type bag for future use in chili, soup or a slow-simmered red sauce.

Be Bold - Be Creative!  Happy Cooking! . . . Lin