Mood Food

After a few days of not posting or cooking out of Cupboard Love, I knew I needed to get back on track. I ditched the gym today (Tuesday seems to be more like a gym day to me...) so I knew that dinner shouldn't have been too naughty. In the last few days I've eaten Mexican, Chinese, a huge bowl of pasta, and a greasy meal equipped with super duper french fries at the diner. So I needed some good mood food! Tom points to a dish in his Soup chapter which seemed to be perfect for tonight's healthy eating.

51. A simple bean soup, the Italian way - *Soup*
52. Crostini - *Toast*

But, I can't go all virtuous without a bit of naughtiness, which is why I also wanted to make crostini. Tom notes that crostini is a perfect side to a big bowl of soup.

The soup was indeed incredibly simple, as its title notes. All it involved was some sweating of onions, carrots, and garlic in a little bit of olive oil. (I omitted celery - blech!)

Once they had released their juices, I added some tomato paste, a little bit of white wine vinegar, the beans of choice (cannellini) with their 'liquor', and some fresh thyme and rosemary leaves. I topped up the mixture with water -- Tom says that this is more of a stew than soup, but I felt like having a nice and light soup so added more water. It was brought to a boil and let to simmer for about a half an hour.

While the soup was simmering away, I cut up a stale baguette into thin slices and drizzled with our green and lovely EVOO. I sprinkled the slices with salt, and put it in a low oven while the soup was cooking.

the Jackson-Pollocked slices of bread - ready for the oven

I then seasoned the soup to taste, and it was time to serve it up! Tom suggested a few additions to the soup as variations. I've decided to not include them as recipes since they were serving suggestions. Instead of choosing to drizzle the soup with rosemary oil or pesto, I just grated some poorman's grana and sprinkled some on my soup.

The soup was fantastic!! Somehow the soup was even a bit on the creamy side - I guess it was the beans and their 'liquor' that did it! The flavors were mellow and deep at the same time. The crostini was just perfect with the soup -- gorgeous and crunchy with the resonance of the olive oil it baked in. Mmmmmmm.

A bowl-full of goodness! That's what I call 'mood food'!