Mexican Oatmeal Soup

Dear friends,

Even though we have had a few frosts and had a real hard frost last night, I still have a few dozen ripe or ripening tomatoes from my neighbor’s garden.

I have a few recipes that I make only when I have loads of fresh tomatoes, enough to cook with and not just add to salads. (Otherwise I usually cook with canned tomatoes or, better yet, tomatoes in my freezer, also from said neighbor’s garden.)

Here is one of my favorite recipes using fresh tomatoes. I am also attaching a handout with my 3 favorite soup recipes using fresh tomatoes. Enjoy!

MEXICAN OATMEAL SOUP

Adapted from Y. Y Tarr, NY Times Bread & Soup Cookbook

This is a great soup to make when you have a bumper crop of tomatoes. Add more tomatoes than called for in the recipe if you have them—you can’t overdo it.

1½ cups regular oatmeal (rolled oats)

1 onion, diced

2 or more cloves of garlic, minced

5 cups water (can include some vegetable broth)

2 to 4 large fresh tomatoes, chopped

¼ to ½ tsp salt, or 1 tsp “chicken” bouillon or seasoning*

Toasting the oatmeal: Place the oatmeal in a dry skillet and turn the heat to high. Watch the toasting process carefully and do not burn the oats! As soon as you can smell the oats toasting, it’s time to turn off the heat completely, and let the residual heat toast the oats while you stir them constantly. The oats will get slightly golden and will smell delicious! Set aside.

In a large pot, sauté the onion and garlic in water, white wine, or vermouth until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 5 cups of water and the chopped tomatoes and reserved oatmeal, bring to a boil then lower to simmer and cook about 10 minutes. 

*If you use a vegan “chicken” broth or seasoning, it will contain salt, so no need to add any other salt. One brand is Better than Bouillon “No Chicken” Base, found in a jar, but be very careful; this brand also makes Chicken Base which you don’t want.