I love using snack sets to serve a soup and salad together. The small cups give just the right amount of soup and the plate offers plenty of room for salad. Snack sets were so popular when I was growing up; my mother had at least four different sets. They were used for serving refreshments after club meetings. They still work great today so look for them at yard sales and flea markets.
Kicked Up Tomato Soup
Start with a box or can of high quality tomato soup. Kick it up by adding:
1/4 cup heavy cream
fresh basil
1 teaspoon or 2 of fresh lime juice
chopped fresh tomatoes
freshly ground black pepper
Mixed Green Salad
Buy bagged salad greens from the grocery store, whatever kind looks freshest. Add yellow peppers, cauliflower and red cabbage for great color. Pick up a jar of salad dressing while you're shopping. A ranch dressing might give a nice contrast with the soup on this plate.
There, the soup and salad courses are ready in the time it took to heat the soup and chop a few veggies. With the addition of the fresh ingredients, no one will know how effortlessly this tea party was put together.
