Kitchen Remedies; a Winter Series: Tomato & Garlic Soup

Kitchen Remedies: Healing Soups for winter and this nasty flu season. Nourish your body with great warming "feel good soups" - easy to make and especially good for overcoming a cold, the flu, reducing fatigue, fever, congestion, immune boosting, and restoring health after an illness.

Tomato & Garlic Soup

This comforting tomato and garlic soup is not only sinfully easy to make, it is designed to help ease colds and sniffles while it adds a little zesty spice to your supper. And since cooking actually increases the cancer-busting lycopene in tomatoes, we are happy to use good-quality canned tomatoes in our healing recipe. This is a simple, nourishing soup that anyone can make!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cups canned tomatoes with their juice
1/4 cup celery leaves, diced
1 dried chipotle pepper, diced, or hot pepper flakes to taste
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup vegetable broth and more as needed
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
fresh basil or parsley sprigs for garnish (optional)

1. In a large heavy-bottomed soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, squashing them with your hands, or using a potato masher to break them up after they’ve been added to the pot. Add celery leaves and hot pepper.

2. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook, uncovered, 30 minutes.

3. In a saucepan, heat butter until melted, then sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring frequently, until flour is golden. Add 1/2 cup vegetable broth and whisk until mixture is smooth and creamy.

4. Add flour and broth mixture to tomatoes in soup pot, stirring until well incorporated and thickened. Add more broth if needed to adjust consistency, then add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve hot, garnished with a fresh basil or parsley sprig if desired.

Serves 4 to 6.


NOTE: This information is solely for informational and educational purposes only. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Currants takes assumes no responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading this site. Use of these remedies in connection with other medications can cause severe adverse reactions and Currants always suggests that you talk with your primary health care provider before engaging in any form of self treatment.