Meg's Fave Marinara Sauce

A few nights ago, I had a most tasty dinner...which you can spy above. The tempeh beanballs were an alteration of the recipe from Appetite for Reduction, which happens to be one of my top 3 favorite cookbooks ever. Totally not joking here. It's amazing.

So anyway, I decided to make the balls (heehee), when I suddenly realized I didn't have a jar of sauce for my spaghetti. Aargh. Silly me. But, I am nothing if not resourceful. Okay, that's an exaggeration. I'm also sarcastic and goofy and junk like that. But, back to the topic at hand: marinara. I made it myself because I was in a total crunch, and I had zero options. Fine, fine, I could have gone to the store, but I refuse to go for only 1 thing. Blah blah blah. I should really just shush and move on to the recipe. Head's up, this is pretty garlicky, just how I like it.

Ingredients:

• 2- 14oz cans of diced or crushed tomatoes
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp coriander (optional...I just LOVE coriander)
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried oregano (I use very little because I don't like it much)
• dash dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Braggs or soy sauce (optional)
• about 12 basil leaves, shredded
• salt to your tastes

Method:

1. Drain most of the liquid from the cans of tomatoes, then put the tomatoes in a large sauce pan over a medium heat. Add everything else and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the liquid cooks down by at least half. 
2. If you aren't in favor of chunkier sauce, use an immersion blender to break it down. That's what I did. Though, I have read that you can put it in a blender (be ultra careful as hot things have a tendency to explode in blenders). 
3. Taste and adjust seasonings. How ridiculously easy was that?