Tomato Soup and Tomato Sauce

This upcoming week is going to be super busy, so I wanted to try and make a dinner that I could take for lunch the next few days. *Plug for the Integrative Medicine Club: Lunch Talk (El Guero!!) with Dr. Carlos Gonzales on Traditional Indian Medicine Concepts on Healing. Be there!* I though, what better leftovers than spaghetti and meatballs? JC makes an amazing marinara sauce that is one of my favorite foods in the entire world. It is also great because you can hide veggies in it and it still tastes delicious-carrots, celery, zucchini, onion... A great trick for picky kids who don't like their veggies (right Ash?). This is one of the few dishes that I could eat three times a day for a week straight. Luckily, we always make enough sauce to last us almost that long. The sauce is so creamy (though it lacks any sort of fatty cream) with a little bit of spice too. Yum.

I also decided to make some meatballs with the spaghetti. I found this recipe on food network and they were so yummy. Three different types of meat, breadcrumbs, cheese, eggs, herbs, and spices, that's it! The secret to creating these cute little guys is that you cook them in a mini muffin tin. Best idea ever. They keep their shape and stay separated from each other. Alton, you're a genius. The recipe made about 3 dozen small meatballs, so I'll probably freeze away some of them (you could also freeze the uncooked meat instead).

Along with the spaghetti and meatball main dish, I also whipped up some gazpacho. I took this from a fellow med student's blog who took it from a Moosewood recipe. We actually both had this at a Global Health class prepared by the famous Dr. Pust. Gazpacho isn't my favorite soup, JC loves it, but this soup is delicious. It's nice and chunky with every kind of veggie under the sun. Next time, I will probably add a little more tomato juice, it was a little too chunky. I think JC is going to puree some of it to make it smoother. I think it would also be served great with some avocado pieces on top. I am a sucker for spices, so I added a lot more spices than the original recipe called for. And, of course, also A LOT of extra Tabasco.

ADDENDUM: I need to add that while JC and I were prepping dinner, we ended up putting too many veggie scraps in the garbage disposal. I had no idea that you could actually clog a garbage disposal, but we managed to do it. With a sink full of water and bits of vegetables everywhere, JC dove under the sink to take about the plumbing. During this time, he also managed to turn on the water without a bucket under the tubes, thus creating a waterworks show under the sink. An hour later, wet, messy, and tired, JC managed to fix the sink (hooray!) and everything was cleaned up. During this time, we both managed to finish chopping all the veggies for the soup, boil down the spaghetti sauce, and mix the meatballs. All of this could have been avoided if we had a compost pile in the backyard. One of the many things I would love to have once I own my "real home." Compost pile, gated garden/greenhouse, chickens...just to name a few.

Gazpacho
adapted from Forked

• 6 cups cold tomato juice
• 1 small, well minced onion
• 2 cups freshly diced tomatoes
• 1 cup minced green pepper
• 1 diced cucumber
• 1 bunch copped radish
• 4-5 stocks chopped celery
• 3 scallions/green onions chopped
• juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 tbs. wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh tarragon
• 2 tsp. of cumin
• 1 tsp. honey
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• Tabasco to taste

Combine all ingredients and chill for at least 2 hours.

Marinara Sauce
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 4 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 4 carrot 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 4 dried bay leaves

In a large pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. Pour sauce into a blender and blend until smooth.

Meatballs
from Alton Brown 

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 5 ounce frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 1 whole egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork, lamb, ground round, spinach, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl. Using a scale, weigh meatballs into 1.5-ounce portions and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the bread crumbs and place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.