A lesson in modification

Alright spinsters.  If you're like me you think cookbooks are freaking awesome.  I love to flip through them and check out pictures and pick and choose what I want to cook next.  So, recently, I found a delicious sounding creamy tomato soup recipe in my new favorite cook book, Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  I read through it and thoroughly drooled over the ingredients and thought to myself how amazing it sounded.  Then I looked at the portions.  6 cups of vegetable broth?  You trying to feed an army here or what?  Then I looked and realized it serves 8. No, huh uh.  Here's what the recipe called for:

2 tbps olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 lb yukon gold potatoes (cut into chunks)
1 c sun dried tomatoes (not the kind in oil!)
6 c veggie broth or water
1 28 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
juice of 1/2 a lemon

So, in addition to being one little person I'm also a bit cheap and lazy.  Normally I would go get fresh herbs and love 'em but I couldn't muster going to the store right after school got out.  Seriously, 3:30pm at Smiths is a nightmare.  Trust me.  So, I decided to fly by the seat of my pants and this is what I came up with:

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp italian seasoning
a dash of salt
some fresh-y pepper (get the reference?)
2 small yukon gold potatoes, cut into small chunks
1/2 c sundried tomatoes
1 can veggie broth
1 regular sized can fire roasted tomatoes
 lemon juice (as much as I feel like!)

So start by taking a soup pot and put it on medium heat with the olive oil in the bottom.  Add onions and cook until they're translucent.  Add the garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Saute for another minute.

 Add the potatoes and sundried tomatoes and veggie broth.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Simmer on medium heat until potatoes are tender.  Add the canned tomatoes and set aside so it can cool.  Once it's a reasonable temperature put it in your food processor, blender or whatever you have.  As my awesome cookbooks says - "Puree the living hell out of it until it is very smooth".  Then add as much lemon juice as tastes good.  I served mine with some bread cause honestly, who doesn't love bread and soup together?

Please bear in mind that any recipe can be modified for one, spinsters.  It's all about creativity.  I doubt my soup tasted exactly how it was supposed but I thought it was tasty and really, that's what matters.  Don't worry if you don't follow things exactly.  It's ok!  And if you fuck it up, oh well.  Lesson learned.


Good luck experimenting and cook on!  
Megan J


ps - look what I did today!  You know you're jealous :)