Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup

Yet another Cooking Light recipe! This is the first time I made this recipe. I changed it up by nixing the half-and-half and used whole milk instead. I garnished with my favorite Bulgarian plain yogurt (whole milk this time). It might be a little on the tart side for some, but I loved it. Adding half-and-half would have tamed some of the tang, I'm sure. I'm only going to use 2 Tbs of balsamic next time. It was really good though, and really easy.

Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup:

1 cup organic beef broth, divided
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or agave nectar)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (2?)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, whole
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained (I used one can of Muir Glen organic fire-roasted tomatoes, and one can of Italian roma tomatoes that had very low sodium content )
Cooking spray
~1/2-3/4 cup whole milk (I'm going to try Silk unsweetened soy milk here, next time)
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 500°.

Combine 1/2 cup of broth, sugar (agave), vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Place onion, garlic, and tomatoes in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour broth mixture over tomato mixture. Bake at 500° for 50 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned.

Place tomato mixture in a blender. Add remaining 1/2 cup broth and milk, and process until smooth. Garnish with cracked black pepper, if desired. I served the soup with some cheesy Gruyere toasts with prosciutto. I just popped some slices of ciabatta topped with prosciutto and grated Gruyere under the broiler til toasty and melty.


Balsamic Vinaigrette:

I thought a hearty salad made with a Butler family classic balsamic vinaigrette would be great with this soup. I don't know who came up with this first, but it's a good one.
Use about 3-1 oil to vinegar ratio here...I'm more of a 2-1'er though, since I like a perky dressing.

balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
lots of fresh ground black pepper
a clove of minced garlic
a dollop of Grey Poupon, or other similar 'tard
a squeeze of honey (or agave nectar). Go easy on the sweet, since the balsamic is sweet too.
a couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce
original calls for dried oregano, but I leave it out unless I have fresh oregano
a wee bit of dried thyme, or fresh if you've got it
Good extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients together except oil. Slowly stream in olive oil while whisking to emulsify. You'll end up with a nice thick dressing.