Roommate's flair with tomatoes helped stretch low-budget meals

I have lost touch with my first post-college roommate, but the memory of her cooking remains with me. It was always simple, hearty, Midwestern fare, seasoned with salt and maybe a bit of black pepper. To me, having grown up with the intense flavors and colors of Russian and Romanian home cooking complemented by constant Chinese takeout, it seemed a bit underwhelming at first. But when money ran low at the end of each month, she was brilliant at turning a dollar (literally, a single dollar) into a variety of balanced meals.

Much of her budget cooking relied on tomatoes. The way she used processed tomato products taught me to think outside the can, box or bottle. For example, she

whirled canned tomato soup in the blender with cottage cheese and Worcestershire sauce. I still serve this as a chilled main dish soup, using reduced-sodium soup and less Worcestershire to keep the salt down, and I've added chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumber and green pepper for garnish.

I remember adopting her techniques to make a spicy gazpacho. Instead of costly fresh tomatoes, I blended tomato juice with the classic stale bread and olive oil, added a jar of salsa and chilled the mixture. The resulting cold soup, garnished with cilantro and crushed blue corn chips, was a hit. Simply by omitting the juice and upping the fresh veggies, it can make a great dip to serve with garlic pita chips. If there's any left over, it also makes a flavorful, fat-free salad dressing for diced roasted chicken breast with mixed greens.

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