what's better than grilled cheese and tomato soup?

everyone likes grilled cheese and tomato soup.  its just one of those meals that no one can hate.  i do admit, for most of my life i was not a tomato soup fan (at least the stuff from the campbells can), but recently i have developed a taste for it.  grilled cheese on the other hand, now that was something i have always liked-- i suspect i did even in my previous lives.

this week, since i knew i wouldn't need a ton of food because i'm leaving to go home for thanksgiving so early, i decided just to pick two dishes to make and live off leftovers.  the beauty of grilled cheese is that if you have the ingredients, you can make a fresh and hot sandwich at the drop of a hat!  the soup, on the other hand, is not so quick.  so i made a big ol' pot of it and just warmed up the leftovers right out of the fridge!

here's what i gathered from the grocery for the soup:
-three medium/large and ripe tomatoes, two fresh cloves of garlic, half of a vidallia onion (or whatever kind you have on hand), one can of low-sodium chicken stock, a cup of fat-free half and half (leftover from making the butternut squash soup!), olive oil, S&P, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

i started by washing, "eighthing" (cutting in to eighths :] ), and seeding my three tomatoes and laying them out on a baking sheet. i gave them a quick glug of olive oil and S&P and tossed them around.  on the same sheet, i cut up half an onion into small roasting chunks and halved two cloves of peeled garlic.  i tossed the pan in the oven at 400 degrees for a good half an hour (moving them around occasionally) until they got all caramelized and soft.

once all the vegetables had roasted, i added them to a pot of simmering chicken stock (one can) that i added a good pinch of crushed red pepper flakes to.  *note: add the red pepper flakes while the stock is still cold and bring it up to a simmer all together, your stock will take on a spicy heat from the peppers!**

i simmered everything together for a minute or two and then added salt and pepper to taste.  right before i was ready to blend, i added a cup of the fat-free half and half to give the soup it's "cream of tomato" look.

using my wonderful Magic Bullet, just like the butternut squash soup, i pureed my cream of tomato until it was nice and smooth and creamy. (i'll show you what it looks like at the end :] )

ladle it up into a bowl or your favorite mug (this is my all time FAVORITE way to eat soup!) and serve it along side my delicious grilled cheese... coming right up!

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for the grilled cheese, i pick up a few ingredients:
-a loaf of the most nutty and delicious whole-grain bread you can find, fresh basil, a fresh tomato, and sliced cheeses of your choice-- i used provolone, muenster, and havarti--, and butter.

i found this nine-grain bread at The Krog (or kroger...) that hadn't even been sliced yet.  mmmm!  i cut it myself into a little thicker slices than normal sliced bread just to make the sandwich substantial.  just look at this beautiful loaf!

while i preheated my skillet (or you can use a griddle if you have one) to medium, i sliced some super thin slices of tomato on my cutting board and laid them out next to my freshly washed basil.

next step:  the cheese!  i laid out a piece of muenster on one half of the bread and then the tomato right on top.  over the tomato i put a piece of round provolone cheese and topped that with three or four large basil leaves.  finally, i topped the whole thing with a piece of havarti and closed the sandwich with it's other piece of bread.

i spread each side of bread with a little bit of butter (so you get that beautiful golden-brown crust!) and grilled it in the pan on both sides until the cheese got melty all the way through.  i usually cut my sandwich diagonally, but when you make this meal for nostalgia sake, cut it the way your momma always did :]

so, tell me, what's better than a lunch (or dinner!) of grilled cheese and tomato soup?  nothing.  that's right. nothing.  whether it's cold and rainy, you're feeling a little under-the-weather, or you're just missin' mom, this is the perfect meal for any day.

enjoy!