Sunday, October 6, 2013

MoCCO Day 6: Modular Tomato Soup

I love tomatoes. I ate every single cherry tomato that grew on my plant this summer as soon as it was ripe. I've lived on "spaghetti" made by pouring a can of diced tomatoes on pasta. But I do not like tomato juice. I can occasionally stomach a Bloody Mary (made with vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, of course), but V8 or regular tomato juice makes me want to gag. I feel the same way about tomato soup, except when I'm dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into it. A can of tomato soup made it into my pantry a few months ago (long story) and has been taunting me ever since. Because I'm supposed to be cleaning out the cupboard and not buying food, I elected to spruce it up rather than buy Daiya and bread. I did buy kale for this dish (which I'm pretty sure the cashier rang up incorrectly because it only cost $0.93), bringing my October grocery bill to $14.06.

Canned soup, white beans (which were intended for yesterday's tacos, but alcohol got in the way), brown rice and kale:
Not pictured: vegan parmesan and vegetable bullion

I call this modular soup because (1) it has multiple components and (2) I made it in successive steps in the same pot. I was working on a craft (post coming soon, stay tuned!) adjacent to the kitchen, so didn't mind stopping in every 15 minutes. Plus, now I only have one pot to wash (by "wash," I mean using up a full shelf of the dishwasher rather than spend 45 seconds washing by hand). I first cooked the beans in my pressure cooker, then the rice (without the pressure, but I'm sure I could have used it), then steamed the kale. My last step was to pour in the soup and mix everything together. I realized at that point that I didn't have nearly enough soup. It was slightly wetter than a pilaf. So I added two cups of vegetable broth and it was perfect.

After I portioned it out for lunch this week, I thought a parmesan topping would add a little more depth. Plus, I've had this stuff for 2 years and really need to use it up.
Up close:
Oh, and I'm also still going strong on my plan not to buy prepared food. That's especially impressive considering I came within 1/2 mile of Whole Foods Saturday AND Sunday. My MoCCO Day 6 meals:
Breakfast: oatmeal w/raisins
Dinner: TBD (but will be at my parents' house, so it will be free)

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