Tortellini soup

Even people who love to cook get tired of it sometimes, although not so much the actual kitchen part. With a glass of wine at hand, I can't think of a better way to wind down the day. What gets old is shopping and planning ahead for weekday meals. And if you have a vegetarian teenager or other picky eater in the house, you know what I mean. I also have to plan enough dinner for a certain picky person to take for lunch the next day! So, it's easy to just fall back on your same old repertoire, night after night.
It's been years since I resorted to processed box dinners from the frozen food aisle, although that day may come again. Now when I'm in a creative slump, looking at cookbooks is usually inspirational. I try to keep the pantry stocked with staples like canned tomatoes, beans, onions, garlic, condiments, broth, rice, potatoes and pasta; that's the secret to throwing together a nice meal quicker than you can call for take-out.

The weather turned cool, and soup sounded good. It's easy to make all kinds of soup "from scratch" if you have frozen or canned broth on hand, and the above mentioned staples. For this base, I started with sautéed onion, garlic, carrots and chopped red pepper. Then a couple cans of chicken broth, a can of chopped tomatoes, oregano and seasonings.
After it simmered for a bit, I added half a bag of cheese tortellini and some diced ham. We topped it with grated Parmesan cheese and ate it with sourdough bread. Not what a fancy chef would call a "complex" soup, but tasty and light for a weeknight supper.