Cooking Skillzzz

It's not a huge secret that I love to cook. There actually aren't many things I love to do, well, except shopping, sleeping in, drinking wine, watching Project Runway (which I am VERY upset about the outcome last night), etc. etc., etc....Those are all relatively lazy things.

I love to cook and I rarely use a recipe. Sometimes I'll have something at a restaurant and try to recreate it in my own way at home. Sometimes I'll see a recipe and then omit or add ingredients as I feel necessary. I actually can't remember the last time I used a recipe as is. Or the last time I consistently used measuring cups....This is why I am a terrible baker.

It was actually my darling husbands idea for me to blog about our dinner last night. I simply "threw it together" in 20 minutes and it turned out semi-decent (he thought better than that) :)

6 large tomatoes, chopped
1 Roasted Red Pepper, chopped
2 Chopped Shallots (I prefer red onion but this was all I had)
Garlic powder (fresh garlic is much better but I was out)
Salt and Pepper---Sea salt is a must! Always! No exceptions!
A few Basil leaves
A pint of Half & Half

All ingredients beside basil and half & half go into the pot on the stove for about 15 minutes, stirring and tasting regularly and adding salt and pepper as necessary. When the red pepper and tomatoes are soft, reduce the heat to very low and add cream and basil.

I cooked that for just a few minutes on low heat and then busted out the food processor. Oh yes, the best kitchen tool, EVER. Process all those yummy, fresh ingredients and voila! You have a thick, creamy, beautiful soup! MSG free, preservative free, and meat free!

We enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches (try using a white cheese and adding very thin green apple slices) with our hearty soup and it felt like a pretty fancy little meal. Rachel Ray does her 30 minute meals. Well, my yummy soup and semi-gourmet grilled cheese was 20 minutes. Take that, girlfriend! :)