Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

I know it's not soup weather yet (especially here).  But I LOVE this soup.  Well, I love soup in general but this one is so good!  This recipe is mostly in my head and varies by what I have in my fridge, but I'll do my best to write it down.

1  T olive oil

1/2  C chopped onion
¾ C shredded carrot (or shredded celery or peppers or whatever)
2 cloves garlic or garlic power
1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbs dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano 

3- 4 ripe roma tomatoes (or any tomatoes you want to use)
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup chicken broth (this is pretty thick soup, so if you want it thinner add 2 cups)
 4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
 fresh Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring often. (I've used many different veggies instead of or with carrots)

Add chuncked fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano and basil.

Bring soup to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.  Cover pan and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
 

Put your cream cheese into the blender.  Remove soup from heat and pour into blender (do this in 2 batches if it won't fit in your blender). Remove the center piece of the blender lid to allow steam to escape, but place a paper towel over the opening in the lid to avoid spray. Process until smooth.  

Garnish with a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan cheese (the picture shows canned, but fresh is best!)

I served this with homemade pita chips.  I had left over pitas in the fridge from Betsy's amazing pita meal, so I peeled them apart, cut them into triangles, spread olive oil on them, sprinkled pepper and parmesan cheese and baked for a few minutes.  It's also really good with Our Best Bites breadsticks!