Grade: summer tomato soup

I have to start off by describing my bias with tomatoes. My mother thinks I'm insane (I sometimes like them now, but not as much as she'd like. I'm okay with them being on a sandwich, and I love spaghetti sauces and ketchups, but I'm not a fan of fresh tomato or Bruschetta. I suppose it's all in how it's cooked, how much salt is in it, so on and so forth.) That means that my grading scale here might be a little skewed, but I'll do my best.

The guys, by the way, said it was good. I think they may be scared to say otherwise; I know I didn't finish my bowl, and neither did one or two of the others. No big deal; more for me to freeze!

• Flavor
• Texture
• Cooking ease
• Price
• Estimated healthiness
• Creativity of the recipe
• Completeness 

Out of 70 points.

Flavor: 9/10. Despite not liking it, it was incredibly different from Campbell's. I cheated: I didn't strain, but I mixed everything together with a stick blender. Hey, I didn't get all those tomatoes just to toss out half of the meat! It left it with a very tomato heavy flavor, but not necessarily the flat acidity I keep running into. It was like a cross between spaghetti sauce and bruschetta; with the seasonings there, it took away the edge I don't usually like tasting in tomatoes, meaning it was palatable. 

Texture: 9/10. Great for dipping sandwiches into (I made grilled cheese). It stuck to it like a charm, and due to its thickness, it didn't drip off right away. It didn't feel grainy or clumpy due to the stick blender, but there were enough small chunks (I don't blend well if I don't have to) that it gave it substance.

Cooking ease: 10/10. Come on, you pretty much simmer tomatoes for a half hour. The annoying part (which isn't that annoying, really) is chopping carrots. Don't like that? Get a food processor. This soup gives a great opportunity for people to add the spices they like, if they don't like or prefer the ones suggested, without fear of ruining the final product.

64.5/70 gives it a 92. Not my favorite, but I didn't grade this purely off of flavor. Obviously, others will get different results if grading this soup, and I challenge people to constantly see if they agree with me. =)

Price: 10/10. If you buy tomatoes and carrots as a singular option, not bagged, if given the chance, and you don't end up spending a ton due to extra left overs. The recipe is even nice enough to give you a weight requirement for the tomatoes, so you don't have to worry about size. And, if anything, that means you can use canned tomatoes if you wanted, because they have weights listed on the label. We've all bought onions, no big deal there, and a lot of people who tend to cook have the seasonings they need/want at hand. Price is minimal, and I like that.

Estimated healthiness: 9.5/10. For a ikck in the right direction, add a few chopped and bite-sized fresh, uncooked, tomatoes into the finished product. Why? Because there are health benefits in both cooked and raw tomatoes. One has lycopene, which we've all been having heart attacks about until the acai berry took over (thank you, Dr. Oz, we really needed that..) I can't remember the specifics Here is a link to the benefits of cooked tomatoes and here is a link leaning toward the health benefits of raw tomatoes. A combination of both is the way to go. Cooking kills one benefit, but improves the other, so long as you don't scorch it. So, stick a fresh tomato or two in the whole pot before serving.
 Aside from the tomatoes, they've been finding more and more reason to be choosy and interested in seasoning use. Pepper, herbs, and even salt (if you manage your intake and use it when it's most beneficial) have all shown signs of healthiness from one thing or the other. I'm not going to find links on this, that's your deal (there would be way too many).
Also, oils that are liquid at room temperature are generally healthier than those that are solids -- I'm sure we've all heard this a million times, but that means a lot more than it sounds. You can get a little crazy with the olive oil, and aside from the fat content (which, by the way, isn't going to harm you or add fat cells to your liver; fat-causing-fat is a complete fallacy, but it can ruin your arteries and heart health.) Olive oil helps fight the problems people keep having with heart and artery health, much like things like walnuts are found to do.

Creativity: 6/10. It's tomato soup. It's nothing new. Grinding up the tomatoes rather than straining was a good touch (thank you, thank you) but wasn't in the original recipe. I think the creativity of tomato soup has to do with what you choose as a main course; this is definitely not a main course, but a higher-dollar dipping sauce. Still, it was good, just not new. And you can't really alter much without turning it into something else (tomato soup is, well, tomato soup.)

Completeness: 10/10. Much to offset the creativity, this soup is done. Finito, finished, never needing anything else -- in my opinion. It is tomato soup, and it is complete! Not much else can be said about this.