Cream of Onion Soup

My teenager hates onions. Despises them. Her life becomes particularly tragic on the occasion that I make this soup, while my son and I both become deliriously, ridiculously happy. It's probably for the best that I'm single right now though, as I imagine my breath is a frightening thing to encounter after scarfing down a bowl of this super yummy, super indulgent soup.
Marla and April (and I guess your husbands MAYBE): this one is for you!!!!!!!

Cream of Onion Soup
Serves 6 (1 1/2 cups soup per serving)
Ingredients:
3 lbs onions, approximately 8 large, peeled, cut in half, and sliced. I like to use a mix of red, yellow, and white
1/2 cup low fat margarine
1/2 cup flour
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 370 mL can fat free evaporated milk
1 cup skim milk
1 head garlic, approximately 9 cloves, oven roasted
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp basil
3 scallions, sliced, white discarded

Directions:
     Slice top of garlic off and wrap in tin foil; roast at 400 F for 45 minutes.
     In a stockpot, melt margarine over medium heat, being careful to avoid browning. Toss your onions in and allow to sweat for approximately 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Here's how mine looked:

     You want them nice and shiny; soft but not mushy, and definitely not browned. Trust me on this.
     Yum.
     Next you're going to gradually stir in your flour, being sure to stir with a wooden spoon constantly and somewhat vigorously (show these onions who's in charge; you're the boss, NOT the onions) to avoid too much stickage to the bottom. Cook for maybe 1-2 minutes, but no longer. Deglaze the pan with about half the stock; stir constantly to mix really well. Stir in the rest of the broth and then grab your roasted garlic and squeeze the heck out of it to get as much of the soft, squishy goodness into your soup as possible. Toss in your basil and sea salt. At this stage I like to stir for a couple minutes until things are looking really nice and bubbly.
     Grab your can of evaporated milk and gradually stir it in. This soup requires a lot of stirring; I've gotten pretty good at soup over the past few years, but it wasn't always this way. I used to think I could wander away from a 'cream' soup; I used to be silly and wrong. Other types of soup, sure. Not 'cream' soup.
     Once things are nice and thick, pour in the skim milk aaaand... yeah, you guessed it, keep stirring. I PROMISE this will all be worth it. I usually stir for anout 3-5 minutes or so and then turn the heat down to low and wander away to prep the salad, or buns, biscuits, whatever. Tonight I made my super yummy, super easy, AND super cheap garlic cheese buns. I'll post that recipe later. Maybe tomorrow. Soon.
     Anyway, here's my soup at this stage:

     Looks okay, but not quite right. Hmm.......
     OH! Oh yeah, one final thing to make this perfection: ladle soup into bowls and garnish with your sliced scallions, like so:

     My son wolfed this down. I tried to be polite and eat like a civilized human being and failed miserably. I pigged. It was delish. Even my teenager deigned to try a bit and pronounced it 'really good for something made with onions'. Aaaah... the highest praise!
Nutritional Analysis:
Per 1 1/2 cup serving

Calories		319.4
Total Fat		17.4 g
	Saturated Fat	2.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	4.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	9.3 g
Cholesterol		4.0 mg
Sodium		858.2 mg
Potassium		550.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		35.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.0 g
	Sugars	5.2 g
Protein		6.7 g