Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Whole Foods makes this amazing rosemary sourdough boule, and Adam and I normally get it as a treat because it's gigantic, and for two people, a gigantic boule has to be a treat.  Tonight I used some to make grilled cheese (mine had piave, his had American) and then made some tomato soup.

The most recent issue of Everyday Food has a recipe for a super easy tomato soup under "Dinner for One" or something equally sad.  All you had to do was saute some onions and garlic, throw in a can of whole peeled tomatoes, bring to a boil and then puree.  Getting to use my immersion blender is always so exciting and satisfying.  This kitchen tool falls under my top five kitchen goodies, not just because it's awesome and useful, but because it cost me less than $30.

As I was making the soup, I realized it was very similar to how I make my tomato sauce, without the onions plus a lot more garlic.  Kind of gross to think of slurping tomato sauce, but I swear it tasted better than that!  The recipe called for two tablespoons of cream, but I didn't have any and threw in some milk instead.  I also added some chopped up plum tomatoes that had been sitting in my fridge for I don't even know how long, and I haven't died yet!

All in all a very successful and comforting Monday night dinner.  Thanks, Martha, and your dinner for one - that I made for two!

Macaroni and Cheese

I've posted about my sort of disdain for pizza as junk food in Milkshake Busters, because it kind of grosses me out.  Grilled pizza is not included in regular pizza - because it's not the same.  The dough is considerably thinner and crispier.  The sauce is typically light or just consists of a few tomatoes.  The cheese is delicately scattered on top, and tends to be fresh mozzarella, instead of that disgusting congealed pile of goop.

This brings me to macaroni and cheese.  Kind of like pizza, maybe even more of the disgusted, congealed pile of goop, but with pasta instead of dough and more cheese instead of sauce.

Every time I make mac and cheese, which is maybe twice a year, I always make a family size portion in a 9" x 12" dish because I hate halving recipes.  I always regret it afterwards because I cannot gorge myself on mac and cheese, and neither can Adam.

All that being said, I rely on a pretty cheesy macaroni and cheese recipe from Food and Wine.  A pound and a half of cheese!  I don't use half and half (except this time I used a little bit of heavy cream and whole milk), and elbow macaroni makes everything boring, so I try to avoid it at all costs, as you should too.