Sunday, August 17, 2008

Quick Tomato Soup with Rice


The weather in the magical city of San Francisco has been, well, unpredictable. This morning started with more than a drizzle of rain, then the sun came out, and now it's foggy again. And quite cold, too.

One sure way to overcome the cold is eating soup. At first I thought I'd make some lentil soup, but then I remembered the delicious tomato soup with rice that the lovely people at the Tel Aviv University cafeteria used to make. I decided to do the same, with three healthy twist: using about a cup of leftover ratatouille from yesterday (it was delicious and one day will merit a post of its own), cooking the soup with brown rice, and using quinoa. Here goes.

3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked
1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 can Muir Glen diced tomatoes (the fire roasted variety is particularly yummy)
1 large heirloom tomato
1 cup leftover cooked vegetables (optional)
1 healthy handful of parsley

Mash up the garlic, chop up tomato and parsley. Place all of them, and the leftover vegetables, in a big pot. Add the grains and the water. Bring to a boil, then cover pot and cook for another 30 mins. or until grains are soft. Do not be afraid to overcook; the rice holds up quite nicely in the soup, and the comfort food taste actually improves if the rice is nice and soft.

Stay warm! When Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever had was the summer he spent in San Francisco, he wasn't kidding.
6 cups water

4 comments:

Shunra said...

That does it, SF is on my destination list for next summer. We've had a hot, hot, HOT August, unbearably hot, sweat-generating-if-you-so-much-as-breathe-ly hot. Not quite as bad here as it was in Vancouver (we spent three sweltering days in climatic conditions that reminded me more than anything of Tel Aviv) but still, whoaaaa.

I'll head on south on the nifty train next summer.

Hadar said...

Yippee!
Let's coordinate the dates closer to the summer, then... I'm planning a humanitarian adventure to a yet-unknown location next summer, but will probably be back in August. I'm envisioning a fun vegan cookery fest for the two of us and our loved ones!

Anonymous said...

Once again, this has nothing to do with tomato soup with rice, but I am very sorry to have missed hanging out with you and chad this summer. I will, however, be back in the area in october and am planning to send out a huge invite to Thai brunch on Sunday in Berkeley (or something). Or maybe I should plan a picnic lunch at the Berkeley Farmer's Market. I haven't decided yet.

By the way, the soup sounds good! I hope you and chad are well.

Veg said...

Ah, this looks amazing. With rain scheduled for the next few days I'll have to make sure I keep this recipe close by!