Homemade Tomato Soup With Toasted Cheese Sandwiches | Healthy Comfort Food

Recently I heard about this amazing combination of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.You may think I have been living under a rock and everyone already knows how great a combination it is but stick with me. Today I have a tasty, warming, healthy, comfort food that is easy to make and you probably already have everything you need in your pantry. 

In the winter months you are more likely to crave a warm meal that will leave you feeling satisfied. Often creamy soups are the number one choice when wanting to fulfill this need for comfort food. Today's tomato soup is cream free so you don't have the extra saturated fat but still so satisfying with the addition of the gooey, cheese sandwich to dip. 

The most important ingredient in this dish is the tinned tomatoes (obviously). As well as having all the benefits most vegetables have (low in kilojoules, full of vitamins) tomatoes also have these things called lycopenes. Lycopenes help to give the tomatoes their bright red colour. Research is beginning to suggest that lycopenes could be preventative of cancers (particularly prostate cancer) however this is not fully proven yet. 

I made this soup twice in a week! Monday night I made a batch to freeze for a week of lunches, then on Thursday night I made it again for dinner because I felt like everyone needed to experience the deliciousness. 

The original recipe can be found here I only made a few tiny changes including decreasing the fat content a little and choosing a different thyme (only because I was using what we had in the pantry already).

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Cooking time: 5 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking
Serves: 6 
Nutrition Information (including toasted sandwich): energy 556kJ (133 cal) | protein 5.3g | fat 3.6g | sat fat 0.9g | carbs 17.1g | sugar 9.7g | sodium 871.3mg

Ingredients 
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried thyme (I used lemon thyme because that's all I had)
4 cups of chicken stock (salt reduced)
4 x 400g canned tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Enough bread (multigrain is best) and cheese (reduced fat is the best choice) to make toasted sandwiches for everyone.

1. Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic.

2. Heat the oil in a pot on a medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, add the garlic continue stirring for about 2 minutes. Mix in the flour, stir through so that it coats the onion and garlic. Cook for a further 2 minutes.

3. Add in the basil and thyme and continue to stir until the herbs are fragrant.

4. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. (optional) Puree the soup so that it is nice and smooth.

5. While the soup is cooking prepare your toasted cheese sandwiches.

6. Enjoy!

Just wait until you try this recipe you will be dreaming about it for days. I'm glad I have discovered this delicious combination and have been able to share it with you all.

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend,
Bridge

If you make this recipe don't forget to take a photo and tag Nutrition Insight! (Nutrition Insight on Facebook, @Nutrition_Insight on Instagram and @Nut_Insight on twitter).