Late Harvest Tomato Soup

I haven't forgotten my promise to post more. I've actually had so many things I wanted to share this week, but ended up putting them off because I didn't have enough time to sit still and write them down!

Fall colds and asthma are starting to kick in and the last second stragglers that need physicals for the new school year have been flooding the office leaving me with no time to blog during the day. At night I've been busy trying to cook and clean enough to make me feel OK about leaving my husband and girls while I travel to Maine for a conference on pediatric obesity. Now I'm back-logged with lots of things to share! Here's the first of what I hope will be many posts over the next few days...

Last Sunday was a perfect late summer/early fall day. The skies were blue, the sun was shining, and the temperature was ideal. We didn't want to waste any time and were on our way to Indian Ladder Farms by 9 o'clock. We usually pick apples there, but weren't huge fans of the varieties that were out and decided to just visit the animals. The farm was offering late tomato picking for only $7 to fill a peck bag too, so we decided to go for it. We've never picked our own tomatoes and had a lot of fun checking out all the varieties.

My younger daughter loves eating tomatoes fresh off the vine, but the older one only likes them cooked. When we were in the car on the way home she asked if I could make her tomato soup with our harvest. I've never made fresh tomato soup before and was super motivated to try it out.

Making this soup confirmed my belief that I definitely need an immersion blender added to my kitchen gadget collection. Even with the extra mess (and near burns!) from transferring and pureeing in the blender this amazing soup was definitely worth the effort.

Fresh Tomato Basil Soup (based on a recipe from Back To Her Roots)

1 TBSP olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
3 cups broth (I used organic, free range chicken broth)
7 cups tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup milk
*optional garnish: fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh croutons*

1.  Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. 
2. Cook onions and garlic for 5 minutes, until softened.
3. Add butter. Once melted, whisk in flour and cook for approximately 1 minute until starting to brown.
4. Add all ingredients except milk and garnish. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer until tomatoes are very soft - approximately 15 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, add milk, and stir to combine.
6. Transfer to blender and puree until smooth (or save a step and use an immersion blender!).
7. Divide into serving bowls and garnish, if desired.
8. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Pesto Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is such an easy side dish (and great summer BBQ food) that I've been lamenting the loss of it since I started eating gluten-free. I've been aware of the gluten-free pasta varieties available, but was really trying to keep away and push myself towards more vegetables instead.

This weekend I decided grilled sausage (made at my favorite local deli) with peppers, mushrooms, and onions sounded like a really yummy and easy dinner. I'm not sure why, but I really couldn't get the idea of pasta salad as an accompaniment out of my head. 

As I was brainstorming, I was torn. Bottled salad dressing is something I really try to avoid these days (so many additives!), but I also didn't feel like making an Italian dressing from scratch. As I mentioned in my post about the kale salad, my husband is critical of my real food attempts and I knew that if I tried to make a traditional pasta salad with gluten-free pasta and homemade Italian dressing I was setting myself up for complaints. 

Instead, I found inspiration in my over-grown basil plant on the kitchen windowsill. I would make a pesto! I was counting on the stronger flavor of the pesto as a dressing to overshadow any flavor or texture issues that my husband could have with the brown rice pasta - and it worked! He didn't question the origins of the pasta and the salad wasn't measuring up against any expectation of what it *should* taste like so he just ate it and enjoyed. Success! 

Obviously this salad could be made with regular pasta, but try it out with a gluten-free variety and see what you think!

Gluten-Free Pesto Pasta Salad

Ingredients

1/2 lb cooked, drained, and cooled brown rice pasta

1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes

1 cup packed basil leaves

1 tbsp pine nuts or almonds (I used almonds)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup grated Parmesan (use good quality stuff, not the stuff from a can!)

1/4 cup olive oil

1. Prepare the pasta and set aside to cool.
2. Chop the tomatoes and set aside.
3. Put all of the pesto ingredients into a food processor and blend. Add more oil, if needed, to thin appropriately.
4. Mix the pasta, tomatoes, and pesto together.
5. Chill at least two hours before serving for flavors to develop.