Tomato Soup




Gluten-Free Tomato Soup

Peggy came home from work and was hungry tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. However, there was a small snag in this plan; we didn't have any tomato soup.

As many of you know, most tomato soup is not gluten-free. Since I'm not a huge fan of tomato soup, this fact was not a hardship for me when I went gluten-free.

It was late and neither one of us wanted to run down to the store to get a can. I said, "It is tomato soup, it can't be that difficult to make, I'll just make some [gluten-free of course]".

So I hop on the iPad and Peg grabs her laptop. In few minutes we a have few recipes that are quick and easy [and good and gluten-free!]. While I worked on the soup, Peg made the grilled cheese sandwiches. We make a great team!


If you are making this recipe for a gluten-free guest, please read our Guide to Gluten Cross-Contact.


Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium white onion, coarsely chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes [with juice]
1 1/2 cups gluten-free chicken broth or water
(Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
2 Bay leaves
1/3 cup skim milk (we didn't have any heavy cream)
Salt & fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Place medium sized pot [enough to hold all the ingredients] on medium heat. Add butter and olive oil. Add onion, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sauté until onion is soft and just start to caramelize [about 10 - 15 minutes].

Add tomatoes and juice to the pan and stir to crush dices of tomatoes. Add the broth [or water] and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Simmer until tomatoes pieces begin to break down, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, remove bay leaves, and allow soup to cool slightly. Carefully spoon some of the soup in blender/food processor [you may have to do this in batches]. Blend until smooth. Return soup to the stove over low heat and stir in cream.

Taste for seasoning adjustments.


Even though I'm not a fan of tomato soup, I have to say, I did like it and will make this again.

If you're looking for a kicked up grilled cheese sandwich, check out our
Pesto Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

Sauteed shrimp and steamed asparagus garnish the soup.


Until the next good eats - cook well and be well.

Al

Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore



Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore


Slow-cooker to the rescue...again! It's been pretty busy around the Al & Peg House as of late. Weekends are doubly-busy, so in order to make good eats, we need some help. Whilst we're scurrying around the house, the slow-cooker is doing all the hard work.

Peg found this naturally gluten-free recipe:
http://www.recipe.com/slow-cooker-chicken-cacciatore/?esrc=nwrc071212pinc

The original recipe calls for chicken drumsticks, but we used thighs instead - more meat on the thighs.

If you are making this recipe for a gluten-free guest, please read our Guide to Gluten Cross-Contact.



Ingredients:

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped carrot
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
1 green, yellow, or red sweet pepper, cut into strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
12 chicken thighs, skinned (about 3-1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste


Directions:


1. Combine mushrooms, celery, carrot, onions, sweet peppers, and garlic in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Place chicken on vegetables. Combine broth, wine, tapioca, sugar, oregano, bay leaves, salt, and pepper; pour over chicken.

2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3-1/2 hours.

3. Remove chicken; cover to keep warm. Remove and discard bay leaves. If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. Stir in undrained tomatoes and the tomato paste. Cover and cook for 15 minutes more. Serve vegetable mixture over chicken and cooked pasta or rice.





Until the next good eats...

Al & Peg

Everybody in the Pool (aka Hamburger) Soup



Have you ever run into a situation where you needed to use up all sorts of miscellaneous things in the fridge? Yeah, well, this is the result. We had a little of this - a little of that. Whatever was laying around got thrown into the pot. Bottom line, we really weren't following as recipe.

If you are making this recipe for a gluten-free guest, please read our Guide to Gluten Cross-Contact.



Ingredients:

1lb Hamburger
Onion
Fresh Mushrooms
1/2 cubed Rutabaga
Cabbage
Carrot
Celery
Frozen Green Beans
Frozen corn
Green Bell Pepper
Gluten-Free Beef Stock (
(Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine). Note: Beef stocks may contain gluten. Double check the ingredients)
Gluten-Free Chicken Stock
(Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
V8
Bay Leaf

Directions:

Sauté' green bell pepper & onion in a big soup pot [7 qt pictured here] for a few minutes.
Add a pinch a salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt, your stocks have have additional salt.
Add 2 lbs of hamburger to pan and brown.
Add a pinch of salt and pepper
Drain/remove excess grease.
Add chicken or beef broth - probably 2-4 cups total
Add bottle of 46oz bottle of V8
Add Bay Leaf or two
Add veggies that need longer too cook first (like rutabaga, carrots, celery, etc]- staggering them by a couple of minutes.
Taste for salt/pepper
Bring up to a boil then reduce heat to simmer
Cover pot and let simmer for 30 - 60 minutes stirring occasionally.
Check a carrot/celery/rutabaga - if it's a texture you like - dig in!


Until the next good eats...

Al



Vegetable Beef End of Summer Soup




If you are making this recipe for a gluten-free guest, please read our Guide to Gluten Cross-Contact.



Ingredients:

1 - 2 pounds stew meat (not pre-seasoned or pre-marinaded)
1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 32 oz carton GF beef stock
(Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
1 48 oz bottle V8 Juice
2 - 3 cups cubed fresh rutabagas
2 - 3 cups peeled & sliced fresh carrots
2 - 3 cups chopped fresh green beans
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups chopped zucchini
2 ears cooked fresh corn cut off the cob or frozen
3/4 cups of frozen peas
3 cups chopped cabbage
2 chopped Roma tomatoes
1 Bay leaf
Salt & Pepper to taste

optional: 1 packet of
HerbOx beef bouillon
optional: 1 small 5.5oz can of tomato juice


Directions:

Add olive oil to your soup pot or dutch oven and brown stew meat.
Add beef stock and V8 juice to pot and stir.
Add carrots and rutabagas. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
Add all the rest of the veggies and bay leaf.
Stir and simmer covered pot for about 3 hrs.

Rinse the bottle of V8 and add water to pot [about 1-2 cups].


Peg Notes:

The amounts of veggies can be adjusted to your tastes. I added the additional HerbOx and tomato juice because I felt there was more veggies than liquid. I didn't want to loose flavor as I added liquid, so I used the HerbOx