Is it just me, or is everyone getting sick lately? Fortunately, we've dodged the bullet for now, but these past few rainy days are making me crave a comforting bowl of a childhood favorite - tomato soup. Fortunately, I've grown up enough to be more sophisticated than to simply open a can of soup and heat it on the stove - especially with the bounty of tomatoes we've received recently.

Whip up a batch of this soup and pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich or just a nice hunk of freshly baked bread. Use fresh, peeled tomatoes or canned organic tomatoes. In addition, for easy cleanup, use an immersion blender right in the pot for less mess and fewer dirty dishes.

Tomato soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium yellow onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

24 ounces canned whole plum tomatoes or same amount peeled fresh tomatoes

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 teaspoons salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have softened and turned translucent, about 15 minutes. Pour in tomatoes, stock, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook until tomatoes are soft and begin to cook down, about 10 to 20 minutes. With immersion blender, puree until smooth (alternately, you can work in batches and pour soup into a blender to puree -- only fill blender halfway for each batch). If soup seems too thick, stir in some extra stock to thin. Serve immediately.

Teresa Shaw lives and writes in Ann Arbor. For more recipes and food tips, visit her blog, Think Inside the Icebox.