Hello Spring, hello tomatoes

I love the changing of the seasons. It starts to stay lighter later and all the pretty flowers start blooming. The best part about spring though is the fact that my electric bill will drop by about $50 and I won’t be able to see my breath in the morning.

Not exaggerating. I had an apartment that was frickin GHETTO and in the winter I could see my breath and my olive oil froze. No joke. It also had nasty water that smelled like rotten eggs, but that’s a story for another day.

I would just like to interject that I still haven’t killed any of my lettuce plants. Kudos to me.

With spring and summer comes a variety of different veggies that you are able to grow in your own garden or on your patio. I have a fairly large balcony and my mom is already planning on having me grown tomato plants in my pots.

But I effing hate tomatoes. Like real bad.

I should be more specific. I effing hate RAW tomatoes. And sundried. And some cooked ones. There’s something about the flavor and texture of the raw fruit that makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little. So what ‘s a girl to do with all these tomatoes I will be growing.

Make tomato soup I say. I like tomato soup. I think what seals the deal is the celery that’s in it. It adds a yummy flavor and a crunch that is awesome.

You start off with a base of onion, green onion, garlic and celery. It’s technically supposed to be a leek as opposed to the two onion, but whatevs. You brown these ingredients over medium heat with butter. Don’t use oil. It’s like a tablespoon of butter. Live a little.

I used two large cans of whole tomatoes as I do not have any fresh tomatoes yet. Dump both cans in a bowl and squish with your hands to break up the chunks. Be careful not to be within the splash zone; one wall of my kitchen looked like it was out of a horror movie.

So at this point you can either add tomato sauce, but I think it’s much better to add V8 juice. That’s right, V8 juice. After this you just have it simmer away for about 20 minutes and then tada! Tomato soup!

I served mine along with grilled cheese made with fresh sourdough bread and Havarti cheese. And get this, the soup cost me less than $5 to make and I probably got four meals out of it. That’s like $1.25 a meal.

Insanulous, right?

Tomato Soup: serves 4-5 people

2 stalks of celery

1 medium white onion

3 green onions

4 cloves garlic

2 large cans of whole tomatoes

2 cans V8 juice

1 tsp basil

salt and pepper to taste

Chop up first four ingredients and soften over medium heat in some butter. While this is happening, dump tomatoes in a large bowl and break them up into managable chunks. Dump into pot with veggies. Add the cans of V8 juice. Add seasonings and stir to combine. Simmer over medium to medium low heat for about 20 minutes. Serve alongside grilled cheese.

Enjoy!