I am getting so good at soups. There. I said it. I am a soup machine these days. And, I’m doing them all on my own without recipes. Don’t mind me, I’m just over here layering and building flavors with things I have on hand. I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF.

I’m calling this soup, “Roasted Heirloom Tomato and Garlicky Beef Rice Soup.” So creative, I know.

There is only one way to tell you how I did it and it is called FREESTYLE. Throw in a little of this, a little of that, and close that recipe book. Build those flavors, people. Let’s freestyle together, shall we?

I had 6 or 7 Jones Valley Teaching Farm green tomatoes that ripened on my kitchen counter and I’ve been staring at them for two weeks. I had all kinds of plans for them, but then lost time (as we do). So today, I chopped them all up and added them to a sheet pan. I cut an entire head of garlic in half and coated it in olive oil and added it to the pan. Then I chopped up one onion and added that to the pan. I drizzled olive oil and added salt and pepper and threw it in the oven (around 350 degrees) for 45 minutes (or so). I stirred them at the mid-way point.

While that was roasting, I diced two stalks of celery and two carrots, added them to my pot with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and cooked over med-high heat until carrots were tender. Then, I added in 1lb of ground beef. I added a little more salt and pepper, oregano flakes, and a teaspoon (or two) of Roasted Garlic Better than Bouillon. I stirred it all together and added a box of vegetable stock (normally, I would have added beef bouillon but I didn’t have it). I let it simmer on the stove for 15 minutes.

Once my tomato/garlic/onion concoction was done in the oven, I scraped all of it (minus the garlic paper and shell) in a blender. I pulsed it to get a chunky consistency and added it to the soup. I added a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, a bit more oregano, and a couple of bay leaves. Then I let it simmer for 10-15 more minutes. Finally, I had a ton of brown basmati rice leftover from a dish I cooked the night before. I added two cups of the rice to the soup, stirred, and let it heat through. Before serving, I got rid of the bay leaves (because…well, I forget sometimes so I’m reminding you).

Everyone loved it. Including me. I served it with Ms. Edna Lewis’s Sour milk Cornbread. You can find that recipe here.

It was the perfect way to pretend that it is Fall in Alabama (I say pretend because it is still in the 80s). That’s okay, though, because the leaves are turning and I am told we will see cooler weather soon.

I try to end each of my posts with inspiration I found during the week. I shared these images by hopehealingarts on Instagram yesterday and thought I’d include them here too. In addition to nourishing our souls with soup, I suggest we find the kind of nourishment necessary for these times so that we can do and be better in this big, wide world. Love y’all.