Summer's Tomato Soup

Seasonal clothing is commonplace, think summer sandals vs winter boots. But a homemade tomato soup especially for summer? Yes! Summer's Tomato Soup is simple, just a few pantry ingredients plus fresh tomatoes. It's made with summer's ripest and reddest tomatoes so the soup's color is extra beautiful. And the taste? Complex. Unexpected. Summery.
Seasonal cooks, you know you'll love this herb-tinged tomato soup. If you're curious? Yes, there's a cold-weather homemade tomato soup too, it's Winter Tomato Soup!

Real Food, Fresh & Seasonal. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. A Real Summer Treat. Vegetarian. Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Carb. Rave Reviews. What're you waiting for?!

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

COMPLIMENTS!

• "... we couldn't believe how something so simple was so delicious." ~ Anonymous
• "This is fantastic!" ~ Jessica

BEST RECIPES!

• Summer's Tomato Soup Made the List!
• Best Recipes of 2005

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The Fleeting Days of Summer Tomatoes

Summer tomatoes and college kids are a lot alike.

Oh! The anticipation of their arrival! And while they’re around, it’s hard to get enough. And when they’re gone – far too soon – you miss ‘em.

Here in eastern Missouri, once Arkansas’ picked-three-days-before-yesterday tomato invaders show up, the picked-this-mornin’ local tomatoes aren’t far behind.

For a couple of weeks, it’s red heaven on a plate. Sliced and salted. Sliced and sugared. Sliced and slivered with basil and slippery with mozzarella.

And then into September, it's tomatoes grilled, broiled, roasted, sandwiched and then finally, souped.

SUMMER’s TOMATO SOUP is a light, herb-tinged soup that makes for a perfect starter or a light supper. It's as different from Winter Tomato Soup as, well, summer and winter, sun and snow, steamy August and frosty January.

RESOURCES

• Tomato Knife for Clean, Sharp Slices
• Never Take a Good Tomato for Granted: Twelve Favorite Tomato Recipes (A Veggie Venture)
• Pretty Ways to Serve Summer's Best Tomatoes (A Veggie Venture)
• More Tomato Recipes, including even more ways to make tomato soup (A Veggie Venture)

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SUMMER’s TOMATO SOUP

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time-to-table: 15 minutes
Makes 5 cups

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 pound perfectly ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups skim milk (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
• Bits of fresh basil or thyme

Heat a large pot on medium high and melt the butter. Add the onion, stir well to coat with fat and let cook for 2 – 3 minutes until soft but before turning golden. Add the flour, let cook for about 1 minute, stirring continuously. Stir in the tomatoes, water and sugar, let cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. (If you like, prepare to this point and refrigerate or freeze. Reheat before proceeding.)

Stir in the salt and soda. Don’t worry when the mixture foams up, it's supposed to! Add the milk and heat through but do not allow to boil and stir often to avoid scorching on the bottom of the pot. Serve immediately topped with bits of basil or thyme.

ALANNA's TIPS For a slightly less homespun company-for-supper version, use whole milk for richness and purée the soup in a blender for smoothness. For something in-between, make the soup with skim milk, then stir in a splash of half 'n' half. Some times, I add a dollop of basil pesto to each bowl. Wash, dry and then freeze tomatoes (as is, no canning, no chopping) at their summer peak for soups and stews in winter. Just before using, if you like, hold a still-frozen tomato under warm tap water to easily remove the skin. More details? See How to Freeze Tomatoes.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup with Skim/Whole Milk: 85/110 Calories; 2/5g Tot Fat; 2/3g Sat Fat; 7/15mg Cholesterol; 149/137mg Sodium; 12/11g Carb; 1g Fiber; 9g Sugar; 5/4g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1/2 & PointsPlus 2/3 & SmartPoints 4/5 & Freestyle 3/4 & myWW green 3/4 & blue 3/4 & purple 3/4

Adapted from a recipe from my dear Auntie Gloria, her story is here in the family recipe for Brown Sugar Lemon Curd.

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Spilling Over with Tomatoes?

~ Never Take a Tomato for Granted:
My Twelve Favorite Tomato Recipes ~
~ Pretty Ways to Serve Summer's Best Tomatoes ~
~ more tomato recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Quick Supper Salmon with Pesto Zucchini Noodles & Warm Tomatoes Simple-simple summer food.
• ANOTHER TAKE Roasted Salmon with Garden Hash & Creamy Avocado Sauce

• THE RECIPE Grilled Steak with Tomato-Avocado Salad in a Warm Poblano-Bacon Vinaigrette A hearty salad supper, steak with a mess of lettuce, tomatoes, avocado in a poblano-bacon vinaigrette.
• ANOTHER TAKE Easy-Easy Marinated Flank Steak Just two ingredients and about ten minutes of hands-on time.

• THE RECIPE BATTLE Sandwiches BLTs on steroids.
• ANOTHER TAKE Oil Tanker Burgers Stacked so high, you might call 'em Super Tankers.

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Summer Soups Are Special!

~ Favorite Summer Soup Recipes ~
~ more soup recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Finnish Summer Soup (Kesäkeitto) Milky broth with the freshest, newest vegetables from the garden.
• ANOTHER TAKE Summer Seafood Chowder Shrimp and scallops in a milky broth, with barely cooked tomato, corn and my favorite vegetable this summer, okra.

• THE RECIPE Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp Familiar ingredients combine into something unusual and surprising.
• ANOTHER TAKE Vichyssoise A simple leek & potato soup.

• THE RECIPE Summer's Best Corn Chowder
• ANOTHER TAKE Summer Seafood Chowder Shrimp and scallops in a milky broth, with barely cooked tomato, corn and my favorite vegetable this summer, okra.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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