In the summer, my diet revolves around fresh veggies like these I recently picked up at the Grandview Farmer's Market*

Soup isn’t something I typically eat in the summertime. To me, it’s a hot food meant to be eaten on cold days. I’m not even a fan of gazpachos and other cold soups because I don’t like their texture. But sometimes, a soup recipe catches my eye in spite of the high temperatures, especially if that soup focuses on seasonal produce (aka corn, tomatoes, zucchini and/or summer squash). The most recent Food Network Magazine has a recipe for Triple Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup that I had to try ASAP. I already had tomatoes that needed to be used up and Jared made this incredible Savory Zucchini Bread from the “What Geeks Eat” blog the other day. I just needed to pick up the Muenster and I was ready to make this recipe.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is comfort food to me. It always has been. Like many Americans, I grew up eating the tomato soup in the red and white can accompanied by melted American cheese on white bread. If that’s what you’re expecting, this is not the meal for you. For one thing, it’s much less salty. For another, this soup actually tastes like tomatoes! Jared and I both really enjoyed this meal, especially once we had doctored the soup a little bit.

Triple Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup
Makes 4 servings

Soup Ingredients
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 lb. tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. chipotle chile powder
1/2 tsp. cumin

Sandwich Ingredients
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Kosher salt & black pepper
4 slices muenster cheese
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
8 slices thick bread
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Directions
1. In a saucepan, combine olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, onion, sugar, chile powder, cumin and one teaspoon of salt. Cook over medium heat for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally. Add cheese and stir to combine.
2. Puree soup with an immersion blender and season with salt and pepper. Return soup to stove and keep over very low heat while making sandwiches.
3. Combine mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Split equally among 4 slices of bread, and use one slice of muenster for each sandwich. Top with remaining slice of bread. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Cook sandwiches, adding more butter as needed. Sandwiches should be done after 4-5 minutes per side.
4. To serve, dip sandwiches in soup. Enjoy!

My thoughts & Suggestions

• As usual, I made some changes to the recipe. After combining the original ingredients, Jared and I decided the soup needed more flavor. So I added cumin and chipotle chile powder. I also thought it needed a little creamier texture. Since I had no cream, I melted a little cheese into the soup instead.
• Like I said, we used homemade savory zucchini bread for this recipe. You could use any good sandwich bread. But I think a homemade or artisan bread elevates this above plain old grilled cheese.
• Since there are only two of us, I did cut the sandwich recipe in half. I made the full soup recipe, providing us with leftovers to take to lunch. I don’t usually cut recipes since Jared & I are both fans of leftovers for lunch.

*As you’ve seen in several of my past photos, my everyday dishes are black. I’ve been meaning to buy white plates and bowls. While I love my black ones, they’re not so conducive to food photography. I couldn’t get a decent shot of tonight’s meal. But I prefer to use my own photos whenever possible. This is why you’re getting a photo of seasonal veggies instead of soup and a sandwich.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Food Network Magazine, September, 2010

Here in Columbus, there is a lot of snow on the ground. The temperatures have been consistently below freezing. It’s too cold to really enjoy any time spent outside. As a result, winter hibernation mode is seriously setting in. To me, this means lots of lazy weekends at home – reading blogs and books, playing games (video, board, tabletop), and enjoying comfort food. In short, winter is a perfect excuse to post this set of links:

• Video game cupcakes are nothing new. I made the ones pictured above a few years ago for a Super Bowl party. I know they aren’t standard Super Bowl party fare. But this is the same group of friends that has spent more than one New Years Eve playing Guitar Hero and Mario Kart. So I knew they would be appreciated. It was my first time using fondant, and taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of using flavorless red dye. For those that don’t know, red dye tends to be very bitter unless you use the flavorless version. I didn’t know this until my cute little cupcakes were topped with bitter red piranha plants. The cupcakes were still a hit. However, these game cupcakes that have been making the rounds on the internet beat my Mario cupcakes by a long shot.
• Jared and I often make homemade pizza on Sunday nights. To be honest, he makes the pizza crust. I just top it. One of these days, he’ll get around to posting his crust recipe on here. Until then, you’ll just have to trust me that it’s really good. Pizza on a Stick looks like a fun variation on regular pizza.
• What is a good weekend brunch without a cocktail? The problem is that mimosas seem very summery to me, and bloody marys are just plain nasty. Mele Kalikimaka Martinis would be a nice winter alternative, even after the holidays are over.
• On winter mornings, it’s always nice to have a healthy, homemade breakfast. Considering extra the drive-time that a winter commute can involve, it’s especially nice if that breakfast that can be eaten on the run or at the office. So I will definitely spend a Sunday afternoon making these Apple Walnut Spice Muffins very shortly.
• I do not give my slow cooker enough credit. Aside from Apple Butter Weekend, I really only pull it out a few times a year.  This winter, I have been trying to change that. I am continually surprised by the things one can make in a slow cooker. For example, it seems like a creamy soup would burn in the slow cooker. I hope this Crockpot Potato Soup recipe will prove me wrong when I try it.

Ingredients
3-4 lbs. butternut squash, peeled & cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks Celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
2 Chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
2 apples – cored, peeled & cubed
48 oz. chicken stock
1 c. apple cider
4 oz. smoked cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ cup butter

Directions
1. In a large pot, melt the butter. Add squash, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to the pot. Cover and cook until the squash is soft, stirring frequently
2. Once the squash has softened, add chicken stock, peppers, apples and cider. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat, add shredded cheese and puree with an immersion blender. Garnish with additional shredded cheese.

Recipe Source: I apologize, but I have no idea where this recipe originally came from. It was given to my husband by his coworker. My Google-fu has failed to give me any additional information

The great thing about minestrone is that there’s no set recipe for it. It was meant as a way to use seasonal ingredients to create an affordable and filling meal. As long as you have broth, onion, celery, tomato, beans and pasta, you have minestrone. My recipe uses ground turkey for some low-fat protein. It could just as easily be made with ground beef or without any meat and twice the amount of beans. This makes a lot of soup. Fortunately, it’s one of those foods that tastes better the second day.

Turkey Minestrone
Makes 6-8 Servings

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon oregano
1 zucchini, chopped
1 14.5 oz. can diced, peeled tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup mini farfalle or other small pasta
1 14.5 oz. can cannellini beans
1 tablespoon Italian parsley
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, brown turkey with salt, pepper, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and oregano in olive oil. Stir occasionally.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add zucchini, and cook for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
4. Add pasta and cook 5 minutes.
5. Add beans and cook an additional 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.

My thoughts:
1. This recipe is a work in progress. I’m very happy with it but would like a little more vegetable flavor. Next time, I’ll make it with half chicken and half vegetable broth.
2. I served this with the rest of yesterday’s garlic-parmesan bread. It was fabulous dipped into the soup.