Creamy Tomato Cumin Soup
In this blog's short life, the most-attempted recipe might be Dara's Oven-Dried Tomatoes. Something about those struck a chord, and I know a few of you are on your second or third batch. My friend Angie posted a comment wondering what to do with the puree that's left after the canned tomatoes are drained. By the way, Angie has three children under the age of 3, and I am SO FLATTERED that she finds any time at all to read my blog, let alone comment. And I'm so impressed that she's doing things like roasting tomatoes. I'd be eating Top Ramen every night. (Okay, maybe not. But close.)
Last week, making Priya's Tomato Lavender Chutney, I had the perfect opportunity to do some experimenting and try to answer Angie's question. I happened to have drained a gargantuan can (108 oz.) of tomatoes, so I realize that may not happen to you very often. I'm now using it as a canister for my cooking utensils and plan to give Loretta a bath in it as its third use. So if you have more modest leftovers, you may have to combine them with some purchased tomato puree (just make sure it doesn't have seeds) and thin it with a bit of water.
Something funny happened while in my catering frenzy. I had a pot of chutney cooking down on the stove, for which I had a recipe, all the ingredients, and an absolute guarantee of yumminess. I had dumped the puree into another pot and found I was much more excited about what to do with that than about the other delectables I had going on. This is my leftover fetish at work. Leftovers and random bits get my juices going in a way that a beautiful grocery store or unlimited budget doesn't. My first idea was make enchilada sauce, but I didn't feel like soaking the chilies and basically going ape%#* with the whole thing. This was supposed to be a side project, after all. Then I thought of cooking it down into a paste with garlic and salt and tossing it with pasta and cream. That's what I'd recommend if you don't have gallons of it like I did.
But the soup idea won out. My kids love grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup--Campbell's, Trader Joe's, whatever. They like interactive eating--anything that can be dipped or manipulated. The puree already looked so smooth and creamy without even messing with it, so I figured I was just a few strokes away from delicious soup. Would I be telling you about this if I was wrong? Probably not. Yes, there's a good ending to this story.
It was so quick that it felt like I didn't cook dinner that night, which was a very good thing. I'd been knee-deep in pulled pork and tapenade all week. Even I want a break from cooking sometimes.
Creamy Tomato Cumin Soup
8 c. tomato puree (leftover from canned tomatoes or bought on its own--no seeds)
3/4 c. heavy cream or coconut milk
1 ts. ground cumin
juice of one lime
juice of one orange
1 minced garlic clove
salt and pepper
1 ts. sugar
Warm tomato puree in a large saucepan. Add cumin, lime juice, orange juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar. Add cream or coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Taste, then add more of any ingredient to your liking. If it's too thick, thin with a little water or more orange juice/lime juice.
May 18, 2009
Reader Comments (12)
What a good idea! Hannah Mae would love this (as would I!). You know she loves to dip anything. We finally drew the line a while back with her dipping pancakes, waffles, etc. in syrup. That makes for crazy mornings! Anway...you never cease to amaze me with how you truly can just throw something delectable together!
OMG, that grilled cheese looks so good. I'm drooling over here. Anyway, here's my question of the day. I've noticed that you almost always have lemons and limes around. Do you really have them around, or is it the cool cook thing to do?
I'm always tempted to buy a bunch of lemons or limes or both, but in the end, I think I'd end up throwing them away. I suppose preserved lemons would answer one thing, but anyway, let me know.
pds, hello again! Yes, I always have lemons and limes around. In fact, I get sort of panicky when I don't. I only had one lime left in the house yesterday, so made sure to stop at Young's Asian Market to get some more. I had four kids with me and we were walking home from school. That's how bad I need limes. I'll take four kids into the store to get them. Unless it's a dire emergency, I never buy them at the grocery store. They are way too expensive. I get them at Asian markets or (you guessed it) MacPhersons. I use them for everything, but I guess if I didn't cook a lot, they might languish. You might try having them around more often and just using them in unexpected ways.
Sarah- thank you, thank you for this wonderful idea. I can't wait to try it. It sounds delicious and simple- in other words, perfect. I just finished having a snack of Macrina's squash harvest bread with manny while the girls nap. I asked him, "Would you like to try some tomato soup?" He said, "no, I'm fine." I laughed (because he's full) and said, "No. Sometime. Sometime, would you like to have tomato soup?" He said, "that's okay." Well, too bad kid. You're getting it whether you want it or not. BTW, he is currently licking a mound of play-doh stuffed in a reusable cupcake liner. Love your writing. Thank you for blessing me with beauty and flavor!
Hey, got the few ingredients I need for this to make tonight. FINALLY made it to McPhersons. Now, I am kicking myself for not making it there sooner. I used to go there years ago when I lived closer. You are right, it isn't far from me at all...even though I'm not in the neighborhood! I can't believe what I have been paying for produce other places!! Anyway...I am so excited to have rediscovered it thanks to your constant reminders of its existence. What a deal!
So, I didn't get enough tomato puree. I had already started it last night and didn't want to run to the store (and also didn't want a pot of soup to only feed us for one night), so I processed 2 cans of plum tomatoes and added those with the 4 28oz cans of puree (Dara's oven-dried tomatoes were cooking at the same time. yum.). Of course, it wasn't as smooth and creamy as I'm sure yours was...and I'm sure it didn't have quite the right taste, but it was still tasty. Hannah Mae & Michael didn't mind — even though I kept commenting on it all through dinner. Oh...and I stole some rosemary from Christine's yard (Christine, if you ever read this don't be mad at me!) for the oven-dried tomatoes and a bit of sprinkling on top of the soup.
I have been known to steal rosemary from time to time, Naomi. It will just save Christine some trimming time. I would have done the same thing for the soup, and it sounds delicious. I'm sure Michael was rolling his eyes and saying, "Naomi, it's great. Sheesh." Too bad our husbands are so tortured by us cooking for them every night.
Not sure what Ezra thought about this! Just gave him a tiny taste and you should have seen his face! Now he's more into playing with the little juicer than sampling your recipes!
Hi Sarah,
This is Nancy (who teaches nutrition education) at Van Asselt. We met a couple of months ago when you came into Wyatt's class to volunteer.
Carla (my co-worker who teaches a cycling class at Rainier Health and Fitness) connected me to this blog. I was looking through it with another co-worker, and she commented that the presentation of the plates is really beautiful.
I think I'm going to try the chick-pea recipe you just added at some point this weekend. It sounds delicious.
Nancy! How wonderful to see your name here. THANK YOU for the wonderful work you do at Van Asselt and I'm so happy Carla told you about my blog :) Let me know how the chickpeas turn out!
I love creamy tomato soup: I haven't tried it with the cumin yet or with coconut milk, though perhaps one of these day I will (inpraiseofleftovers.com). You know, I've been told that love is made of left-overs. Does that make any sense to you?
I enjoyed your blog so far, and it made me chuckle and hope that I'm a mom one day. Is it true that being a mom is just...
I guess that's it. Thanks for making me smile.
Some time has passed, and now Ezra loves this! He was freaking out over it, opening wide for more. Made it right this time.