The Surprising Ingredient Michael Symon Adds to His Tomato Soup

From Iron Chef America to Symon’s Dinners Cooking Out, if you’re an avid watcher of the Food Network, you definitely know Michael Symon. With over 30 years in the industry, Symon has made a name for himself as a James Beard award–winning chef and a Daytime Emmy–winning host.

In partnership with Contadina, we talked to Symon about some of the culinary secrets he has up his sleeve from decades of experience. Want to know his top three pantry staples, how to make the best tomato soup and what makes his new cookbook Simply Symon Suppers: Recipes and Menus for Every Week of the Year a must-buy? Read on to learn more in this exclusive interview.

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EatingWell: Do you have any favorite tomato recipes that you make over and over again? 

Symon: I think when people first think of tomatoes, they think of pasta sauce, which believe me, that’s how I grew up. I’ve always been a huge fan of Sunday sauce and the big pot simmering on the stove, but especially this time of year, you can make braised short ribs over a stew or some great chutneys. It’s really personal, and there’s so many different things you can use tomatoes in.

See More: Tomato Braised Pork Chops with Spicy Rice and Tomato Chutney

EatingWell: Favorite way to make or pair tomato soup?

Symon: I mean, who doesn’t love tomato soup with grilled cheese? The whole world loves that! But if I’m not in the grilled cheese mode, I love a great tomato and blue cheese soup, a slightly sweeter but nuttier blue cheese I think goes really, really nice with it. If I’m getting a little fancy, I’ll make little grilled cheese sandwich croutons to garnish the soup, I think that’s really fun.

EatingWell: What are your top three pantry staples that you always have on hand?

Symon: Obviously I always have the Contadina tomatoes on hand. The varieties that they have are great, like the Diced Fire Roasted tomatoes. For chutney-ish types of dishes, I think it works really well and purees for great sauces. For most of my cooking career, I’ve [insisted on] fresh herbs, but currently I’m really in love with dried Sicilian oregano on the stem, which you can add into things. I think the Sicilian oregano has a much different flavor than the oregano that we grew up with. It has more citrus notes to it, some light spice. And I always have anchovies in the pantry, always, always. Whether it’s with bread and butter or sneaking them into sauces to give it an umami blast, I think they're a great little, very underutilized trick ingredient in the kitchen that really puts a lot of depth to flavors and sauces.

EatingWell: Do you have any tips for choosing the best-quality canned foods?

Symon: One thing that I have learned from my years of cooking is that a lot of times, you try ingredients and they fall a little flat so you go back to some of your old standards. I think a lot of it is testing and trying. There’s a lot of different canned tomato brands out there, but the reason that I have had this relationship with Contadina for years now is because it’s the one that I really love. It’s my go-to because I’ve tried everything else. People will also ask, “What’s your favorite olive oil?” and I have a lot of favorites, but you should taste olive oils until you find one that you really love and stick with that. Everyone’s palate is a little bit different.

Related: How to Choose the Healthiest Canned Fruits & Vegetables, According to a Dietitian

EatingWell: What makes your new cookbook Simply Symon Suppers unique in comparison to your former releases?

Symon: This is our eighth book that we’ve done. I think one of the things that makes this book really fun is that the last two books were based around cooking and dealing with inflammation. In this book, it’s 52 weeks of suppers where if you look in the book, you’ll get a complete meal plan. You can certainly mix and match throughout the book, but we give you a complete thought where if you just wanted to make dinner for your friends and family, they’re separated out like that, including holidays. It pairs the entrees with the salads and sides, it’s all-inclusive. It’s our biggest book, close to 200 recipes total. And because of what we’ve done in the past, we mark things that don’t have gluten and things like that for people that are trying to watch for those kinds of things in their diet. I think the complete meal plans are very helpful to people, and it’s broken out by seasons which is very helpful.

EatingWell: What does "eating well" mean to you?

Symon: My favorite Julia Child quote is, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” I hate the word “diet,” it puts a pressure on people on how they’re supposed to eat. I think healthy eating is eating that makes you personally feel well physically. Certain people can’t eat flour, so if someone has gluten issues, healthy eating for them is going to be a different definition than someone like me who, dairy is tough for me. I think you have to find your pocket and understand your own body and go from there. I really try to make my plates balanced, that’s the key. It’s not “just eat protein” or “just eat carbs,” find some balance. Your plate should have lots of different colors when you look down at it. It should be a balance of protein, vegetables and grains. And I think if you take a balanced approach to eating and omit the things that make your body feel uncomfortable, I think that’s healthy eating.

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