Roasted Tomato-Basil Soup (with a side of debilitating allergies & inappropriate music videos featuring the 9 year-old children of movie stars...)

So I just watched 9 year-old Willow Smith's video for "Whip My Hair " and I have officially decided that my future children are doomed. Here's a taste of this:


I'ma get more shine than a little bit 
Soon as i hit the stage applause I'm hearing it 
whether its black stars black cars I'm feeling it 
but can't none of them whip it like i do 
I, i gets it in mmmm yea i go hard 
when they see me pull up i whip it real hard 
i whip it real hard,real hard,i whip it real hard 

Well maybe I've been a little too influenced by Jersey Shore, but the phrase "gettin' it in" has been permanently associated with the sexual wrongdoings of the  two creatures known as "a Situation" and "the elusive Snooki"(as seen above getting arrested for "being annoying"...seriously, that was the charge the judge placed against her..look it up)! Snooki also turns into this when water hits her/someone is brave enough to spawn with her...

When my child comes home from school with a $3000+ manicure and weave and tells me that she infiltrated a children's mental institution and brought joy to them by dipping her hair in paint and flinging her hair back and forth I will know that I may have inhaled the scents of too much cooking wine during my pregnancy...and it might be time to lay off the sauce. No In all fairness I'm just kidding...but I am hearing a rumor that chastity belts are coming back in style..just saying kids, everyone cool is wearing one! Okay enough ranting about the future Ke$has of the world. 


In other news, Bloomington may be beautiful  in the fall, but God does it reek havoc on my allergies. Walking around campus, it seems like this is becoming less of a college campus and more of a Leper/TB colony, it's pretty downright disgusting. Since it was kind of cold today and I was so stuffy and lethargic from a first time allergy to sushi last night, I decided that a soup would be the best option. I went with roasted tomato-basil soup with roasted garlic. It was a nice vegetarian soup full of vitamin C and other nice nutrients so hopefully I will manage to ward off the plague for a few more days. It also is technically my first "college friendly budget" recipe.


You're going to need the following:


-2 1/2 lbs nice meaty tomatoes like plum or beefsteak, cut into fourths (I used big hydroponic tomatoes because they were on sale this week) 
-2-3 Stalks of celery, medium chop
-1 Large red onion, cut into sixths
-1 Head of garlic with the top sliced off exposing the cloves
-2 Carrots, peeled and small to medium chopped
-1 Cup Half & half
-15 to 20 Basil Leaves (Fresh)
-3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese(or less depending on preferences)
-2 1/4 cups Water
-3 to 4 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- kosher salt
-pepper
-olive oil
-aluminum foil


First, Preheat your oven to to around 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place chopped vegetables including garlic, onto the tray. Drizzle with Olive Oil liberally and make sure every vegetable is coated so they don't burn up too quickly. Next, liberally apply salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder if you are feeling adventurous. Stick it into the oven for 25-35 minutes, checking periodically, and when they are done it should look like this:

The next step calls for an immersion blender, but since I don't have one I got some use out of my brand new food processor! Spoon half of the roasted veggies along with half the bulb of roasted garlic into the food processor with 1 cup of water. Blend REALLY well ( I stress this because I accidentally chopped my carrots too big and they were not as soft as the rest of the vegetables, so it kind of ended up very carrot based), then pour into a stock pot. Spoon the rest of the vegetables into food processor among with all of the half and half, remaining water, basil, and Parmesan cheese. Blend well and pour in with the previous batch of soup. Bring to a boil then lower heat to low and allow the flavors to mend a bit for 8-10 minutes and you should have a soup that looks like this:

Serve with grilled cheese/toast/etc. and your cold should be running for the door in no time. =)