Paper Palate

I recently received a copy of Enlightened Soups: More Than 135 Light, Healthy, Delicious and Beautiful Soups in 60 Minutes or Less and was thrilled because not only does the book have some wonderful lightened soup recipes, but it’s written by Camilla Saulsbury.  If you have seen Ultimate Recipe Showdown this season or the previous one, you would recognize her as a tough competitor. 

With her newest cookbook, Camilla has lightened up over 130 soup recipes from around the world.  The book is nicely organized by types of soup, such as Pureed Vegetable Soups, Seafood Soups and Legume and Grain Soups, to name a few.  She has taken the guesswork out of the nightly time crunch by including an index organized by the amount of time it takes to prepare.  While there are no pictures throughout the cookbook of the completed soups, you’ll find a few pages of photos of the soups in the beginning of the book to entice you into adding them to your list of “to try” recipes.

I went through the cookbook a few times before settling on the first recipe I wanted to test.  I have always loved tomato soup and have fond memories of eating it with a grilled cheese sandwich.  Didn’t everyone’s mom make that same combo for lunch every once in awhile?  So, it was settled, I would make her Classic Tomato Soup.

The ingredients are things I actually had in my pantry already, which is the case with many of the recipes in this cookbook.  It was so simple to make and had more flavor than that canned soup that I had growing up.  The cayenne pepper really makes this soup “pop” and for a low-calorie soup, only 108 calories per serving, it is rather filling. 

I’ll be returning to this book throughout the year as there are not only soups for those cold winter nights, but also several chilled soups that will be perfect for summer.  Camilla has shared a nice collection of soups that will inspire you to get in the kitchen and whip up a pot of soup no matter what night of the week it is.

Classic Tomato Soup

Source: Enlightened Soups: More Than 135 Light, Healthy, Delicious and Beautiful Soups in 60 Minutes or Less, Camilla Saulsbury

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 (14.5 oz) cans whole tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2/3 cup canned fat-free evaporated milk (from a 12 oz. can)
2 tablespoons Sherry or Marsala

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, then season with salt and pepper.  Cook and stir 5 minutes.  Add the garlic.  Cook and stir 1 minute longer.

Add the tomatoes and their juices, water, sugar, cayenne, celery seed, and oregano to the pan.  Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth.  Return the soup to the saucepan and stir in the milk and sherry.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Rewarm for 2 minutes to blend flavors. 

Makes 6 servings.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.