When life brings you robins that fly incessantly into your windows (keeping you awake from the crack of dawn until you give up and get up), you will feel better if you make soup. And sing. Just not ANY of the same songs as the bird brained robins sing.

Tomato Soup With Crispy Capers And Oregano

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
3 cups tomato puree
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbs olive oil, extra
1 Tbs capers, rinsed and drained
2 Tbs oregano leaves
19 oz can cannellini beans, drained
shaved parmesan cheese, to serve

Directions:

1. Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato and broth, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes.

2. Heat a small non stick frying pan over high heat. Add the extra oil, capers and oregano and cook for 1 minute or until the capers and oregano leaves are crispy. Set aside.

3. Stir the beans through the soup, ladle into bowls and top with the capers, oregano and parmesan.

Serves 4

Recipe from Donna Hay Magazine

Summer Of Love is what I would be listening to in the car as I drive to the beach. The fact that I live nowhere near the beach means I’ll just crank it up in the kitchen.

Check out San Francisco all girl band, The Sandwitches. I love this description of them by Empty Cellar Records: “Imagine if the Shangri-las got together with Loretta Lynn, or better yet… the Carter Family, to sing on lost PJ Harvey songs performed by the Monks.”
The Sandwitches-Summer Of Love

Buy their stuff here.

The Serenades are a new Swedish pop duo with members Markus Krunegård and Adam Olenius (Shout Out Louds). This is catchy stuff. “Now I know what love is all about. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh”.
The Serenades-Birds

The track Birds is available as a free download here. You can buy the new EP ‘Birds’ there, too.

Cheers!