Summer Tomato and Basil Soup w/ Grown-up Grilled Cheese

Melissa's Notes: This meal was soooo good. I am not a huge fan of tomato soup (esp. the Campbell's soup kind), but I love the tomato soup at Nordstroms Cafe. My Mom bought this cookbook years ago, and I finally tried this recipe, YUM! I made up the grilled cheese recipe myself (I know, not so hard to do, but you have to start small), and it was so satisfying to eat together. It got rave reviews from hubby and kids, they ate it all up! A winner in my book if my 2 year old is getting some vegetables in her. I halved this recipe and it still made plenty. I love that you don't need fresh basil to make the soup, very convenient. And I am positive that if you left the whipping cream out it would still be super good (for the health conscious).

courtesy of Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook
For the soup:
1/3 cup EVOO
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. dried basil
3 28-oz. cans whole Italian-style tomatoes in puree
1 14-1/2 oz. can chicken broth
2 cups heavy whipping cream
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. lightly packed fresh basil leaves, cut into fine ribbons

In a 6-8 quart saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the carrots, onion, and dried basil and saute, stirring occasionally, until softened, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the tomatoes, including the puree, and the broth and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes to blend the flavors.

Remove from the heat. Puree the soup in the saucepan using a wand type immersion blender or working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Return the pureed soup to the saucepan, add the cream, and place over medium heat. Warm until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into a warmed soup tureen or individual bowls, garnish with the basil, and serve immediately.

Grown-Up Grilled Cheese (my own recipe)

fresh French bread from the store
Havarti cheese
Grated Parmesan Cheese (I just used the Kraft kind)

Assemble the sandwiches by cutting thick slices of bread, and putting about 2 slices cheese on each. Heat a skillet to medium heat. Melt some butter and olive oil together on skillet. Put sandwiches on skillet, and flip right away to make sure the butter/oil mixture soaks in on both sides. Sprinkle the tops with the Parmesan. Get another skillet and squish down the bread, leaving the skillet on top (kind of like Panini). When browned on one side, flip and brown the other side. Smoosh the bread again so it's a nice thin sandwich.