Homemade Tomato Soup

Adapted from:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/homemade-tomato-soup-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups vegetable stock
  
• 1 yellow onion or 3 shallots, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add shallots and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, veg stock, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using. Take the bay leaf away. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

Okra Curry / Okra Raita

Okra Curry / Okra Raita

Okra Curry is a regular fixture in South Indian Vegetarian households, almost like cheese sandwiches in American households. This is a recipe that i sent to my son's class for a multi-ethnic recipe collection activity.


Ingredients

• 1/2 lb okra (full okra is preferable instead of the frozen ones. You can get them in Indian or Asian grocery stores at a lesser price and better quality than in supermarkets)
  
• 1 1/2 cups yogurt (non flavored variety). (optional)
  
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil (veg oil will do)
  
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (you can get them in indian grocery store. They are black in color)
  
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 dried red chilli crumpled or 1 tsp red pepper flakes (adjust according to desired spice level)
• 1 pinch asafoetida. (optionally)
  

Cooking method

• Wash okra before cutting (or it becomes gooey).
• Remove the stem part of the okra, the one that looks like a knob. Cut to 1/2 inch pieces
• Heat Oil in a sautee pan just until it starts smoking.
  
• Add mustard seeds. It will soon start cracking up in oil. Add Cumin seeds and chili pepper.
• Add okra pieces and start frying. The heat will caramelize the sugars in okra and make the vegetable nicely fried. Take off the heat when it is done and slightly crispy.
• You can add salt at the end.
• At this point , you can serve this as a side dish. It goes well with steamed rice or flatbreads like pita, tortilla, naan, roti etc.
• Raita:
  
• Optionally you can add yogurt to the okra and make raita which is a condiment or sauce that is similar to the greek tzatziki sauce. Raita should be served cold ideally and room temperature serving also works.
• Okra Raita can be used as a dip or you can use it in wraps or as a side dish. It goes well with a spicy dish as the yogurt balances the heat of the spicy dish.
  

Cooking Time - 10 minutes
Preparation Time - 15 minutes
Serves 4.