Recently I discovered this recipe as I was trying to figure out something to do with the abundance of tomatoes I had from my garden (and my neighbor's garden)! I had never made homemade tomato soup before, but recently my kids had taken a real liking to tomato soup… so, I thought I'd give it a try. Well, long story short, I have now made 2 triple patches of this tomato soup! My family LOVES it! Plus it's healthy, so I figured it was appropriate to include it on my chiropractic blog.

Of course, grilled cheese sandwiches go great with tomato soup and this is no exception. Some of the neighbor kids even come down asking for more . Fortunately we have a good supply in our freezer for the winter - my only concern is that we're going to run out! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do…

Roasted Tomato Soup

(I usually triple the recipe then there is enough to freeze)

• 2.5 pounds fresh tomatoes (mix it up - use vine, roma, heirlooms or whatever you have)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 small onions, sliced
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 quart chicken stock - I use "Better Than Bouillon" it's much easier and less expensive than the boxed or canned broth. They have big jars of it at Costco at a great price in the spices aisle. Power to you if you make REAL chicken stock.
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 TBSP butter
• ½ chopped fresh basil
• ½- ¾ cup heavy cream, optional but makes it especially tasty

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Slice the onions and lay them out on a roasting pan. Peel the garlic and lay it out on the roasting pan. Wash, core, and cut the tomatoes into halves. Spread the tomatoes out on the roasting pan as well. GREAT TIP: stack the tomatoes on top of the onions and garlic. They roast great this way. Drizzle the tomatoes, garlic, and onion with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 - 30 minutes or until caramelized. Once they are roasted, the skins from the tomatoes should remove relatively easily. Remove all the tomato skins and discard.

While the tomatoes are roasting, in a large stock pot, add ¾ of the chicken stock, bay leaves, and butter.

Transfer the roasted tomatoes, garlic, and onion to the stock pot - don't use the juice that has cooked off during roasting. Bring ingredients in the stock pot to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the liquid has reduced a little bit.

Wash and dry the basil leaves. Add to the pot. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Add cream if using, and adjust the consistency with the remaining stock in necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Let me know if you try this and what you think of it.

By Ryan Bowman