Tangy Tomato Soup!

I was worried when my 2 week long vacation started. Since Sandeep (my husband) had not got the time off at the same time, I could not plan a trip anywhere. The places I have in mind to travel, would like to travel with him. Coming back to my vacation, I have a history of getting restless 4 days earlier than the time I am expected in office and start going through mails, just so that I can save the stress of going through hundreds of mails on the very first day of joining back. With a typical IT culture you get copied in all sorts of mail you have no clue about, but you still need to go through them to make sure they are not related to you! Anyhow here I am successfully getting through the vacation enjoying every minute of relaxation and wandering all by myself. I have revived my blog, cooking like a crazy woman.. some turning out great some barely making there and some total disaster... but hey such is life!
Today is my second last day of my vacation and am feeling extremely lazy to step out, the weather is also nice and foggy, rainy, a perfect weather to curl up and watch your favorite movie and slurp a hearty soup and those crunchy croutons! If you still feel hungry then a freshly baked bread with soft butter, my idea of a completely comfort food..
      You must have guessed by now.. before I could curl up in comfort I had to dash off to the kitchen, pull out all the vegetables I had in the refrigerator and think, how these can make a nice hearty soup :) I took a peak and started pulling out things like they come out of a magician's hat. I quite like to stockpile a lots of vegetables, fruits and spices in anticipation of putting them to good use. With all I had, I decided to make a nice tomato soup with a twist of all the lovely vegetables and spices.
It took me about 30 mins from pot to plate. This soup also turns out to be a stress buster with all the chopping it involves, it will help you get all your anger, frustration and anxiety out on the lovely vegetables making them more  giving to the soup. So here goes the list of ingredients that I used, if you don't have these please do not stress, use what ever you have and it will turn out great. If you use the exact proportions, it makes soup for 2 or you can refrigerate some for yourself to enjoy it later :)

1. 4 medium sized ripe tomatoes. Avoid using raw or orangish looking tomatoes. Ripe tomatoes have a nice tang and sweetness to them that flavours the soup really well.
2. 1 red onion or 2 shallots.
3. 2 cloves of garlic.
4. 1 nice fat, juicy carrot.
5. 1 red chili pepper. If you intend to use a red capsicum, a half should do, because red capsicums can be fairly large.
6. 1 nice long stalk of celery, remove any leaves you might see on the celery, retain just the stalk. If this is not easily available replace the celery with spring onions and skip the shallots.
7. 5-6 good size basil leaves.
8. 1/4th can of coconut milk.
9. Salt and grounded black pepper to taste.
10. 1/2 teaspoon sugar.

With all the ingredients in place, its time for action.

1. Chop all the vegetables finely except for the tomatoes. This is your time to let all that pent up worries and render lovely diced vegetables.
2. Cut tomatoes in quarters, since they cook pretty fats, they need not be chopped finely.
3. Tear up the basil leaves.
4. Take a large non stick saucepan or a wok, its easier to sauté the vegetables, keep the heat medium, don't crank up the heat under the pan. This will avoid the burning of the garlic and onions.
5. Add 2 tables spoons of olive oil and a knob of butter.
6. Toss all the vegetables that are finely chopped and the basil.
7. Let them simmer in their own juices, till they becomes soft. Putting in all the vegetables together lets them render juices and garlic does not over power the other flavours, but still gives its sweetness.
8. Once the vegetables are cooked and feel soft, add the tomatoes in.
9. Add half a glass of warm water.
10. Let the tomatoes cook for 10 mins, till they start welting.
11. Turn off the heat and let the vegetables cool off  for another 10-15 mins, before they are sent to the blender. This is ideal, but for the impatient soul like me, the vegetables straight go to the blender to turn into a paste/puree. 
12. Once the vegetables blend in nicely and you have a coarse paste, you can either put it back on heat for some more time and add the coconut milk to finish it off.
13. Or if you enjoy a smooth silky soup, be a little patient. Put the coarse paste through the sieve, make sure you push out as much as you can from the paste, since it contains a lot of goodness in it. Do not throw the leftover in the sieve, I will tell you how this makes a great topping on the toast down the lane.
14. Put the lovely smooth strained soup back on heat. Tear up some more basil leaves and stir. Take a taste of the soup and top up with salt and pepper if you like.
15. Turn off the heat, add the coconut milk and sugar, and stir in nicely.
16. A pipping hot bowl of soup served! 

If you do not have croutons at hand they can be made easily. If there is any stale bread in form of slices or a loaf, tear it up or cut the slices in cubes it you like traditional croutons.

These can be alternately done in low heat oven.
     A nice bread teamed up with the soup makes a good meal. As I promised earlier about the toppings for the bread, the left overs that you have in the sieve, after getting a silky smooth soup, do not throw it out. It has a lot of goodness in it. If you have managed blending the soup really well, this may not be an option if all you can see in the sieve is a pile of mush. However if the sieve looks like pieces of carrots and celery and other things you have added, then you can save this to make a nice topping for the bread. Heat up a pan add a spot of olive oil, add mustard seeds, add the left over and let them simmer for a while. Top up with freshly chopped coriander and a little salt and pepper, squeeze a couple of lemon drops to give an extra tang to topping. Toast a freshly baked bread or a regular slice bread and load the toppings on the bread, I can promise this will give you an ultimate of fresh and healthy meal.
Recently, I came across a quote by Julia Child -

You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.

Who would not agree??