Recipe: Creamy Tomato Soup

(NOTE: I will add a picture to this post this afternoon)

I've been craving creamy tomato soup since last week, so I finally got around to making some last night. I lightened this recipe by using Promise light spread instead of butter, and I don't think it made a huge difference in terms of taste. Ideally, I would have used low sodium tomato juice, but I couldn't find any at Metro Market. I probably should have looked at pick 'n save, since they have a better selection for that sort of thing.

ingredients:
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
4 cups tomato juice
28 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 cup fat free half&half (I used kemp's, but land o lakes makes this, too)
1/2 cup butter

directions:
Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the pot. Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the half & half and butter. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

Recipe: Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

Making this was definitely an experiment for me. This was my first time trying this recipe, and it wasn't until I was into the preparation that I realized that I had no bread crumbs and I could not find my dried basil anywhere (the recipe calls for fresh basil, but I didn't think it would stay fresh long enough). My solutions were to make a piece of toast and rip up said piece of toast to work as breadcrumbs and to substitute italian seasoning for basil. It worked and still came out delicious, but next time I definitely plan on using breadcrumbs and basil.

ingredients:
4 large fresh tomatoes
4 ounces goat cheese
1 tbsp chopped bottled roasted red peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tbsp torn fresh basil

directions:
1. Preheat the oven broiler.
2. Slice the tops off of the tomatoes and hollow out by removing the seeds.
3. In a bowl, mix the goat cheese and chopped red peppers together. Spoon an equal amount of the cheese mixture into each hollowed out tomato. Place stuffed tomatoes upright in a baking dish. Top each tomato evenly with the bread crumbs and torn basil. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Place under broiler for 5 to 10 minutes until bread crumbs are lightly browned.

serves 4