Tasty Tomato Soup

INGREDIENTS

• A jar or two of crushed tomatoes. You can also blanch and pureé fresh tomatoes
• a big onion.
• butter
• thyme (fresh or dried)
• salt and pepper
• cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt about 1-2T of butter in a kettle.
2. Sauté a diced, large onion until it’s translucent.
3. Add tomatoes, and simmer. If your tomatoes are chunky and you want them smooth, purée with an immersion blender or use a tomato masher.
4. Add a little thyme. For each large can or quart of tomatoes, I’ll start with a half teaspoon fresh (I never measure) or about 1/4 teaspoon of dried. This is the spice that really makes this soup… the key here.  You can swap it out and experiment, though!
5. Salt and pepper to taste
6. Just before serving, add a little more butter (about 1T) and at least a half cup of heavy cream. I probably use more–I don’t measure.  Healthy option: you can sub milk or light cream, even half-and-half if that much cream makes you cry.

COST: $-$$  If you’re using cream, it’s a dollar or so more. But, tomatoes should be in your pantry, and you’ve probably got onions. This should be affordable.

GLUTEN FREE: Yes

VEGETARIAN: Yes

VEGAN: This can be vegan. Leave out the cream or swap for a cashew milk or other vegan non-flavored creamer. No one wants vanilla creamer tomato soup.

KETO:  This is a tough one to adapt for keto because the base is tomatoes, so you’ll probably be hitting the upper-end of your carb limit. However, make this with cream and moderate, and you can sneak an app-sized portion in for keto or low-carb.