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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

RV COOKING 101: Roasted Tomato Soup


Preparing healthy, homemade meals in an RV or while camping really isn’t that difficult. You should be able to prepare the same kinds of meals you are used to at home, but you might have to use a little more imagination or ingenuity to get the job done, being short on space and all. Menu planning is highly important, in order to take advantage of what little refrigerator and storage space there is available in an RV. What I mean is, make ingredients overlap. If there are leftovers, make sure you can use them at another meal or in another dish. My great aunt used to make her end-of-the week pot of minestrone, which was basically all the leftovers from the week thrown into a soup pot. I tried my best to not go over to her house on minestrone day. Today’s cooks can be more creative. Leftover meat from tacos can be used in an omelet, on a salad, or in quesadillas. Roasted chicken can be made into a chicken salad or put into a casserole. You get the idea.

And now, on to our first recipe.

ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

What do you do when you discover your tomato plants are loaded right before you leave? Bring that luscious fruit along, of course.

Cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters and place cut side down in a roasting pan. Cut up some carrots and celery and add to the pan. Drizzle generously with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add chopped basil and oregano leaves (I used dried but you can use fresh if you have it). Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 300 degrees for about one and one-half hours, stirring every half hour.

Once the carrots are soft and the tomatoes have turned to mush (a rather technical term, I know), take them out of the oven to cool slightly. If you are brave, you can puree them in the blender immediately, but I have fears of forgetting the lid and being scalded as hot tomatoes fly everywhere (not to mention the mess I would have to clean up after such a fiasco).

Pour the pureed tomatoes into a soup pot and thin with either chicken stock or vegetable stock. Add some evaporated milk if you prefer creamy tomato soup (I know I do). Adjust the flavor to your taste, reheat, and dinner is served.

We added some Tillamook Pepper Jack cheese to ours. Delish!

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