Soup!!

The weather here seems to have gone from summer directly to winter. A few days ago, I was in a t-shirt and skirt, finally adjusted to the fact that I don't always have to bring a hoodie when I go out, and then last night I went out in a big coat and was still freezing. It's really just fall weather, and I didn't even need to break out the huge, sleeping bag-like winter coat, but being from San Francisco, I always forget that seasons exist, let alone change. Anyway, the point of this is that Lola & I were in need of some warming soup.


Rice, carrot, and tomato soup
serves 2
ingredients:
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked
2 medium carrots,sliced
1/2 onion, diced
Italian seasoning to taste
14 oz diced tomatoes & juices
1/2 cup water
3/4 can cannelloni beans
1 teaspoon olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the carrots and onion. Saute until they start to get soft, about 5 minutes. Add everything else except for the Italian seasoning and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
The next day, I used the leftovers to make a Mexican version of this soup with fried corn tortillas instead of rice, cumin instead of Italian seasoning, and some cayenne and hot sauce. I topped that with some grated cheese.
Both versions of the soup were warming, comforting, and very filling. They also turned out a bit more like stew than soup, because we tend to throw in a lot of veggies, rice, etc when we make soup. So if you'd like it more soupy, use the liquid from the canned tomatoes, but not the tomatoes themselves.