Smoky Tomato Soup with Maple Candied Bacon

Sometimes, normal tomato basil soup can get a little boring.

And kids, this tomato soup recipe is anything but boring.

The recipe is from Naomi Pomeroy, award-winning chef and proprietor of Beast in Portland, Oregon. She prepared the hands-down best piece of lamb I've ever eaten, with a polenta pudding on the side, in a savory plum and balsamic vinegar sauce. I feel like Homer Simpson when I describe this dish. Cue uncouth drooling here.

The soup has bright citrus notes from freshly-squeezed orange juice, smokiness from the smoked paprika, and a spicy kick from the pimente d'Espelette (available at some speciality grocers . . . if not available, I would substitute cayenne, but less if you are squeamish about spice). I have made the soup both with and without the maple candied bacon if I'm trying to avoid killing myself with saturated fat. We had a bit of trouble with the bacon last time as our oven just doesn't seem to get hot enough for it to cook in any reasonable timeframe.

Just make it and enjoy.

Tomato Feta Basil Pasta Salad

I have long associated pasta salads with the soggy, mayo drenched affairs seen at church barbecues. Furthermore, I never understood the reasoning behind cold pasta. Why have pasta cold when it is so very delicious hot?

This was before I moved to a place with no air conditioning. Yesterday it was 88 degrees in my house, and there was no way in this apt simulation of hell that I was going to turn on the stove, oven, toaster or any heat-emitting device. In the middle of the night, when with all the windows open and fans blasting the house had chilled to a comfortable 75 degrees, I mass produced cooked pasta, meat, and rice so today I could pull them out of the fridge to make oddities such as pasta salad.

Steering clear of mayo, I made this baby with stuff I had laying around. It's fresh and light and totally fulfilling. Give it a try!

3/4 lb cooked whole wheat penne pasta, cooled (DO NOT over cook--if refrigerating overnight, knock a couple minutes off the cook time)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 C feta cheese, crumbled (or to taste)
1/2 C sun dried tomatoes in oil (thank you, Costco)
Big bunch of basil, sliced in to ribbons (thank you, garden)
1 TBS good olive oil
1 TBS good balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Toss ingredients together and serve.

Grilled Bruschetta Chicken

I stumbled upon this one on the Kraft website of all places. IT IS INCREDIBLE and absolutely perfect for this cool grilling weather we've been having in Utah. I of course made modifications to the original, ridding it of Kraft products and otherwise elevating this chicken to manna from heaven levels. I also increased the amount of bruschetta so you can have more for your crusty bread or just to eat with a spoon.

The technique on this chicken is a little weird, but not difficult. You grill the marinated chicken on one side, then place foil on the grill to cook the other side. The foil catches every last bit of lovely bruschetta and prevents your grill from getting nasty.

Note on grills: we have a tiny cheap $15 camping grill with small camping propane tanks plus charcoal. It was a small investment and pays off big time for our cooking-for-two needs. But if you don't have one, I'm sure this one would also work in the oven on a grill pan.

Chicken:
* 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
* 1/4 cup of your favorite italian dressing or marinade.
I didn't have any, so I used a couple TBS balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, salt, and herbs.

Bruschetta:
* 2 large roma tomatoes, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (optional)
* 1 large clove of garlic, minced
* 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
* 1 TBS olive oil
* Kosher salt to taste
* 1/2 cup  Shredded Italian cheeses. I mixed hard Romano and Parmesan with mozzarella and it worked fabulously
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil leaves (but it's so much better with fresh!)


1. Marinate chicken for 10 minutes to 2 hours depending on your time constraints. Rotate chicken often.

2. Place large sheet of heavy-duty foil over half of grill grate; heat grill to medium heat.

3. While grill is heating, combine bruschetta ingredients and let sit.

3. Grill chicken on uncovered side of grill for 6 min.

4. Turn chicken over; place, cooked-side up, on foil on the grill. Top with bruschetta. Close lid. Grill 8 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF).

5. Serve with grilled asparagus tossed in olive oil and kosher salt.

Yummy Blender Salsa

This is a great recipe for those who love chips and salsa-- like me-- but have a really hard time finding salsa in the store that is just right. With this recipe you can adjust the ratios to have it more tomato-y or more onion-y or more garlic-y or more cilantro-y... you get the picture. Here it is:

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (get one with peppers included if you want!)

1/3-1/2 white onion, chopped

1/2 c. fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove, chopped

juice of 1 lime

salt to taste

Put all of these ingredients in the blender and mix to your heart's content. You can leave it as chunky, or make it as smooth, as you prefer. I tend to like my salsa a little less tomato-y, so I put in more cilantro and onion. The first time I made it, it turned out perfect-- and I haven't been able to get the exact same combination of ingredients again, no matter what I try! So, a word to the wise-- write down your combinations as you try them so you will have it for later.

I love this stuff!