Lighter tomato basil soup

Now that it’s the new year, we’re all trying to cram more fruits and veggies back into our diet. And it’s still cold outside! What better way to warm up than with a big bowl of soup?

This past weekend, we tried my takeoff of Cooking Light’s tomato-basil soup, and it was awesome — really delicious, super velvety and filling. I will definitely put this into our family meal rotation.

Here’s my slightly different version of their recipe and directions. (I can NEVER follow things directly. I think my brain would explode. But they called for way more basil, half the cream cheese and 1 percent milk instead of skim. I think I made a good trade.)

The recipe:

A few swirls of olive oil

1 chopped onion

chopped handful of basil (frozen from my summer garden)

3 chopped garlic cloves

2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes

1 block lowfat cream cheese

2 c. skim milk

A few pinches of salt

A couple of grinds of pepper

The directions:

Heat a saucepan on medium-high and add olive oil to pan. Cook onions, then garlic. Add basil and tomatoes, then bring to a boil. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Place soup in blender and puree. Return to pan, then stir in milk, salt and pepper. Heat it through while you’re making grilled cheese to go with it. Or add some croutons and a salad. Yum yum yum!