It’s possible that we’ve been eating out a bit more than usual these days.

It’s also possible that anybody else’s cooking is a lot more appealing to me right now than my own.

This is how the girls and I ended up in a bagel shop for lunch one day last week. (and the week before that. and the week before that.) I had a bagel sandwich stuffed to the brim with every vegetable they had, plus a small bowl of their tomato soup that was pretty good.

My only observation/complaint was that the soup was a little greasy. That and the fact that the girls picked the table closest to the bathroom.

At least I was finally motivated to cook something! I couldn’t wait to recreate a similar (less greasy) version of this tomato soup at home. I was also motivated to stop saying “where do you want to sit?” when we go out to eat. I’ll pick our seat from now on, ladies. You guys stick to picking your noses.

So this is how I ended up making a simple tomato soup on a Sunday afternoon.

Simple ingredients!

1 large onion, diced. Two cloves of garlic, sliced. Vegetables sauteed in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft.

Two 28 oz cans of fire roasted Muir Glen tomatoes, opened and dumped straight in. Classy.

I made myself resist the urge to throw in a lot of other ingredients here. Let’s keep this simple!  Simple Tomato Soup.

But… but… what about just a little corn? Or some beans? Wouldn’t kale be great?!

No!  Not this time!  Just onions, garlic, tomatoes. Simply seasoned with salt, pepper and a dash Tabasco for just a little kick.

(Plus a teaspoon of white sugar to help with acidity of the tomatoes.)

And what goes better with tomato soup than a grilled cheese sandwich?

Nothing. Unless you’ve got a bagel sandwich for me with lettuce, tomato, onions, roasted red peppers, cucumbers and a seat far, far away from the Ladies Room? Then we’ll talk.

Today’s grilled cheese sandwich was actually a grilled cheese garlic hummus and pickle sandwich.

Garlic in the sandwich and garlic in the soup too? My breath just might smell like the Men’s Room after this.

Put your sandwich together and let it get all melty while your soup simmers a bit longer,

mmmm hmmmm, just like that.

Once your soup is ready, you have the option to blend it perfectly smooth like the tomato soup folks at Campbell’s,

or you can leave it slightly chunky like people at the bagel place did.

I went the chunky route and blended 3/4 of the soup smooth, leaving the last quarter of it in the pot to be stirred in with the tomato puree.

This made eight, 1 cup servings. That’s a lot! It will last us well into the week though and should save us a trip to the bagel shop until the end of the week at the very least.

My calculations tell me this soup only has only 85 calories per serving! Not too shabby. And not too greasy either.

Tomato and grilled cheese on a Sunday afternoon.

Should I mention that I had the seat closest to the bathroom directly off my kitchen today?

Nah. Let’s just be glad we’ve got lots of soup to eat and no one is picking their nose.