Tomato Soup

I always hated tomato soup from a can, but when I lived in Utah there was a cafe that had the yummiest tomato soup, and I always craved it when we moved to Portland. So one afternoon I had a bunch of girlfriends over for a playdate, and I tried out a homemade tomato soup recipe for the first time. It turned out pretty good, but I've since switched to the Elephant's Deli tomato orange soup recipe.

Serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread. Mmm mmm good.

Elephant Deli Tomato Orange Soup

1/4 cup butter

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 T. fresh thyme

1 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup of heavy cream (see notes)

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the diced onion and saute until translucent. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, baking soda, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes. Puree in a food processor or blender. (I use my Braun hand blender and do it right in the pan.) Return to pan and stir in the orange juice. Heat through. Stir in the cream and serve.

Notes: don't substitute the cream with half and half or milk. It will leave a weird texture. If you want to lighten it up, omit the cream entirely.