(Editor’s Note: Soupergirl has not seen Ratatouille – in case that is not obvious…). OK here’s the story of the sequel – Chef Jean LeSoup decides to take his favorite dish – Ratatouille – and turn it into a soup! Mon Dieu! He takes all the basics – tomatoes, zucchini, fresh summer herbs and seasonings… but he neglects the eggplant! The eggplants will not stand for this!! That night, they quietly roast themselves to bring out their delicate meaty flavor. They puree themselves and jump into the soup. The next morning, Chef LeSoup heats up his new creation and cannot believe how wonderful it tastes. “Le soup! Eeeet eeees so magnifique!” Out of the depths of the soup he hears the eggplants chanting, “We are the eggplants, we couldn’t be prouder, and if you can’t hear us, we’ll shout a little louder. WE ARE THE EGGPLANTS… You get the point. Listen chef, never again will you make ratatouille or a similarly named soup without us. We are the secret ingredient. We give thickness and richness. Also we roast and puree ourselves, so it seems like a no-brainer to include us in the soup.” The end. I see this movie going straight to video. But it can’t be any worse than Grease II.

This soup really is a memory in a bowl (with a modern, local spin). Who didn’t grow up eating tomato and rice soup? As a young Soupergirl, I assumed that my grandma was in the kitchen, slaving away over a hot stove, cooking up the perfect concoction of spices, tomatoes, and rice. Turns out she was opening a can. The rest of the time she was in the kitchen (no one was allowed in when grandma cooked), she was updating her status on Facebook – which was a weird thing to do in 1983. So Soupermom and I decided to make an authentic tomato and rice soup. We removed the random additives (high fructose corn syrup in tomato soup? Really?) and added in some carrots, fennel, basil, and other fresh ingredients. We think it is lovely. But please don’t tell Grandma. Oh, and do me a favor – add her as a friend on Facebook. She is obsessed!