A Summer recipe after the Summer hols - roast tomato and sweet potato soup for the soul


And we're back. Summer hols away from home have come to the proverbial end, we're back in our little abode, starting up our routines once more. There's a few days still of vacation ahead of us, hubby only goes back to work Monday, kid won't start school for yet another week, so I'm still taking it real slow for the time being, easing myself into that back to business as usual mode. I'm waking up earlier already, and not because I set the alarm clock for it, just my own body coming back to its natural habits in its usual environment. I'm starting my mornings in my usual, old ways and it feels rather good to be doing it again, to be back to the old routines. I'm still lingering on vacation mode, though, and haven't really worked at all, not with any purpose or meaning. The wonderful time we had on holidays stills hangs around in my mind, bringing a kind of fuzz to my head that takes time extricating myself from. I only really feel riveted into action once husband goes back to work.


If you follow my instagram you've seen images of our holidays. I won't be posting any here, simply because I have already done that. We spend our vaycay at the same place every year, my family has a house there and we fully take advantage of it everytime we can. It's been my go to place for weekends away and summer hols for longer than I can remember, you see? I've travelled elsewhere, vacationed in other spots, especially while my father was still alive, but I have been coming to this beach ever since I was one or two, first with my grandparents, then when I was older, so it's like coming home to me. We don't have the money to travel around and take vacation here and there, although there are places I think I would like to be able to afford visiting, although I wish I had the possibility of doing with my son what my father did with me and my sister which was traveling all over Portugal with us and showing us what a beautiful country we have. But those were other times, and even though we were one of the poorest families in our building, we still had a lot more money available for travelling around our own country. It wasn't as expensive as it is today. And choices must be made, we made ours and live fine with them, so we have a lot less money available for those choices, but we do live happier for them. Even if we don't get to travel around.


So yeah, you know, boring as it may seem, we always spend our hols at the same spot. At least we're lucky enough to get out of our daily abode and go somewhere else, and I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for that. There were a couple of years when we couldn't even afford to travel there, and we spent our hols here - I was still part of the outside world work force, and wasn't allowed vacation time due to weekly contracts, I have spent years of my professional life without having the right to holidays. - and even though we did have a wonderful time, I am grateful that we get to pack up and go elsewhere for three weeks. Not that we do things differently, every year we end up doing the same there, we have our routines there very well established too, and traditions too. But we get into a different rythm, we do things with another kind of spirit and ease, we rest a lot. Mainly, it's what I think we do there, we rest a lot and we indulge a lot. I know I do. I always come back with at least 1kg more on me, so I always need a wee bit diet to get back to my usual shape.


This Summer was no different, I indulged as much as I wanted to. Not that I go around eating tons of ice cream or cakes - had half a cake and no ice creams at all - but I do pile up on all the bread, know what I mean? Yeah, it's the bread and the roast potatoes. Our lunchtime meals are composed of salads, out there, using whatever leftovers we may have from the previous night's meal, but out dinners are always - well, mostly always - made up of grilled meat or fish and roast veggies. With a starter of yogurt dips and crunchy bread. My yogurt dips are packed up with chilli and fresh herbs, like mint and parsley and cilantro, lemon zest and cumin are also used, garlic too. The roast veggies are basically potatoes, sweet potatoes, all the tomato in the world, onions, garlic. Simple as that, tossed around with salt and herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, bang into the oven untill all's roasted and beautiful and the meat or fish is grilled. Simple fare, good fare, indulgence for me. And all the bread with the yogurt dip. I always come back from our hols craving a huge bowl of soup, normally a green soup, with watercress, or broccoli, or spinach. I did just that the day we got back, I cooked one of those soups. But while away on vaycay, we also like to have a soup or two, if the weather's turned for the worse. It's comforting and filling and does the trick. This year, it was a roast tomato and sweet potato soup.


This was a rich, creamy, thick soup that was so filling. And easy to do, as well, though perhaps a tad too time consuming for when you're on hols. Here's what you need:

  • two to three medium sized sweet potatoes
  • two large- and I mean really humongous, ginormous, huge - heirloom tomatoes
  • one red onion + one white onion, both on the small side
  • water, salt, pepper, olive oil, dried herbs - herbes de provence work really well here
Wash the tomatoes and chop them up in medium chunks. Peel the onions and do the same, as well as the sweet potatoes. Toss them in an oven tray, coat with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and the herbs. Roast for one hour, or forty five minutes, depending on the oven, at 200º Once it's done, pur the veggies into a bowl and puree them with a blender. Check for consistency, if needed add a little water that has been boiled in a kettle. Check the seasoning too. Serve with some crusty bread and fresh mint leaves. If you have any leftover soup you can use it as a tomato sauce, we did, and it was delicious. We had leftover oven baked rainbow trout and the soup so we boiled some pasta and tossed it all together with some basil, it's to die for. Hope you try this one.


Comments

  1. I am a total sucker for sweet potatoes. And good bread. Especially good bread.

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  2. So glad that you enjoyed your holiday.
    It does take a little to settle back in. I totally get what you mean.
    Thanks for sharing this recipe. It looks perfect for this time of the year.
    Hope you hav a great week.
    K :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kimberly. I thought this soup might be interesting for vegetarians and vegans as well as omnivores like myself ;)

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  3. I've never paired tomatoes with sweet potatoes before, but it sounds beautiful. :-)

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  4. Oh, I love comforting bowlfuls like this - I made a tomato, chickpea & coconut soup the other day and it was like a hug in a bowl.

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