Tomato Basil Soup

2 teaspoons butter
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons flour
1 cup milk
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the basil, onion, and garlic.
2. After about a minute, stir in the flour and cook for a minute or two.
3. Whisk in the milk and heat to almost boiling, stirring occasionally (don't let it boil).
4. Puree the tomatoes in a blender until very smooth.
5. Stir the tomato puree into the milk mixture, and heat to almost boiling, stirring occasionally (don't let it boil).
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This recipe is adapted from a Cream of Tomato Soup recipe from allrecipes.com.  I use the blended tomatoes instead of tomato juice, and I added in the dried basil and garlic.  I think I probably could have used a little more basil and garlic.  You could easily leave them out, too, as well as the onion.  It does have those chunks of onion in the soup, which isn't what traditional cream of tomato soup is like.  I didn't have any fresh onion, which is why I used the dried onion.  I might add the onion to the tomatoes when I puree them next time, to avoid the chunks.  I haven't tried it with fresh basil, but that would probably be better added at the end rather than at the beginning.  This is really easy to make, and I always have milk and canned tomatoes on hand.  I had it with some grilled cheese and topped it with the cheesy crackers I made yesterday!