The Grit's Tomato, Basil, and Feta Soup

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I will be visiting my friend Audrey in Seattle this weekend and I can't wait!  I've never spent any time in the city, though, so if you know of any spots we must hit up please let me know :)

I love soup.  To me there's nothing better than a hot bowl of goodness on a cold day.  It's like eating a big bowl of love for your belly.  Enter my desire for a nice bowl of soup last week.  That fall crisp is definitely in the air now here in SoCal, so soup was in order.

Lindsay, my best friend from college, went to grad school at the University of Georgia in Athens.  I lived in Atlanta my first year of seminary, and Athens is only a short drive from the ATL, so I made a few road trips to Athens to visit Lindsay.  She introduced me to the gloriousness of The Grit - an awesome vegetarian restaurant popular with the students and locals alike, especially many of Athens' famous music groups like the B-52s and R.E.M.  The Grit is fabulously funky and serves delicious, healthy vegetarian food - one of those places you go to hang out with friends and catch up on life.  If I had to pick a dessert to have at my last meal, it would be their Mint Chocolate Chip Grasshopper Cake (layers of devil's food cake with green mint buttercream frosting studded with chocolate chips).  To DIE for.  Literally :)

Anyway, on my soup-making quest I turned to The Grit Cookbook gifted to me by Lindsay for my birthday a few years ago.  I found their Tomato, Basil, and Feta Soup recipe and got to work.  Here we go!

Chop an onion and sauté it in your soup pot.

Add garlic and chopped red bell pepper, and sauté until everything is softened.

It will look like this.  You could probably just eat this as it is but then you'd miss out on the soup part :)

Add S&P, tomatoes, and the soy sauce mixture (yes, soy sauce! See recipe below).  Stir it all together and bring to a boil.

After a few minutes, reduce the heat and add fresh chopped basil and balsamic vinegar.  Enjoy your steam facial.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes, and serve.  I enjoyed my soup with a lovely grilled Laughing Cow swiss cheese panini on wheat.  Heaven!

The soup, sans feta.  Still awesome :)

The Grit's Tomato, Basil, and Feta Soup - from The Grit Cookbook
serves 5-7

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp. onion powder (I omitted this because I didn't have any, no biggie)
• 2 tbsp. EVOO
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• Water
• Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup finely crumbled feta cheese (I forgot it, but it's delicious either way)

Directions:

• Thoroughly combine water, soy sauce, and onion powder in a small mixing bowl; set aside.
• Heat olive oil in large stockpot and add onion.  Sauté until softened.
• Add garlic and red bell pepper; sauté 3-4 minutes.  
• Add salt, pepper, diced tomatoes, and soy sauce mixture.  Stirring often, bring to a boil.  
• Reduce heat and add basil and vinegar.
• Blend cornstarch into just enough water to dissolve without lumps and stir into soup.
• Simmer for 15-20 minutes and remove from heat.
• Stir in lemon juice and crumbled feta cheese.  Serve hot in warmed bowls.