For better or for worse, I spent more time styling this soup than I did making the actual soup. I've been thinking a lot lately about the cult of the styled life. Everything has to be artfully disheveled or perfectly posed just right... for Instagram. I'm a card-carrying member of this cult and it drives my husband crazy. And not that my own feeds are even close to perfect, but it drives me crazy to look at his ugly Instagram feed knowing that all he would've had to do was run those snaps through a few VSCO filters, change the contrast, go through about twelve more steps and bam. Point is, we're both wrong and we're both right.

The especially funny thing about a curated online existence is the part about me (pshh, me?!) running a blog that's largely about healthy food and wellness. To give you a frame of reference here, I just ate a half a bag of frozen hash browns and I'm going on hour four of sitting in front of a computer screen. I haven't worked out in nine days. I haven't washed my hair in four.

I did, however, already drink my eight glasses of water for the day... because the hash browns were very salty.

There's a method to the musing, I swear, and it's this confession: This soup is made with canned tomatoes. And it's got yogurt and cheese in it. And I ate it with a grilled cheese sandwich. And nothing about it was paleo. And it was delicious.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Gluten-free; 15 minutes; 2 servings

Ingredients

• One 16 oz can of tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1-2 oz feta cheese
• A big handful of fresh basil, chopped (save a bit for garnish)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste
• Olive oil to drizzle on top

Instructions

1. Throw the tomatoes, chicken stock and dry spices into a pot.
2. Bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the feta, yogurt and basil and then use an immersion blender, food processor or blender to liquify everything.
4. Taste, adjust spices levels if needed. 
5. Serve with fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil. And a grilled cheese sandwich. And an Instagram post. #worthypause

Any deep thoughts about social media and/or tomato soup? Let me know in the comments.