Category: Comfortfood

Low-Fat Broccoli Cheddar Soup

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Low-Fat Broccoli Cheddar Soup

  • Servings: 6 Servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Soup season is upon us. Nothing quite like a great bowl of soup to take the chill out of your bones. I go from standards like vegetable soups, to chicken noodle, to beef barley and well cream style soups. Now when you think of creamy soups, you think fat, rich, flavourful. I found this recipe that is both delicious, rich and yet reduced in fat.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
  • 1-1/2 lbs of broccoli florets chopped, stems peeled sliced thin
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
  • ¾ cup of fat-free evaporated milk
  • 4 ounces of extra-sharp cheddar cheese shredded (about 1 cup)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, add leeks and broccoli stems and cook until just beginning to soften, about 8 minutes.
  2. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  3. Stir in broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until stems are soft, about 8 minutes.
  4. Add broccoli florets, cover and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes.
  5. Transfer soup to blender and puree until completely smooth, about 30 seconds. (Do this in smaller batches if need be to not have your blender overflow with hot liquid)
  6. Put back in pot add mustard, milk, and cheese and heat on low until cheese is melted.
  7. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 217
  • Fat 12 g
  • Sugar 7 g
  • Carbohydrates 18 g
  • Protein 13 g
  • Fibre 4 g

This was a great way to have a nice warm creamy soup without the fat and calories. Using leeks instead of onions allows the flavour of the broccoli to come through while providing color, and silkiness to the soup. By using the extra sharp cheddar, the distinct cheese flavour is brought to the forefront. You need to remember that when you add the cheese, you can not bring it to a boil or it will separate and make the soup greasy. Same goes for reheating. Using the fat free evaporated milk helps give that creamy texture without the fat. Fat free regular milk won’t work. The cheese, well, that is where you have lots of choices. You can have sharp, jalepeno, Havarti, or even mild, this is where you have fun and make it your own,

Extra tip: preparing your leeks.
Cut off the tough dark green portion of the leek and discard. Slice the remaining white and light green portion in half lengthwise. Submerge halved leeks in cold water and agitate to remove any dirt. Once the leaks are clean, remove them from the water, pat them dry with paper towels and chop them as desired.

Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew

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Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew

  • Servings: 9 Servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
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This makes a great fall stew. If you grow your own kale, this is a hearty vegetable that grows well into late fall. We found this recipe to be hearty, filling and cozy.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb dried cannellini beans (about 2 cups), rinsed and picked over
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 6 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (we used thick cut bacon)
  • 1 large onion, chopped medium (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 medium celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3/4 cup)
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
  • 8 medium garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 bunch kale (about 1 lb), stems trimmed and leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups loosely packed)
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. In nonstick pan, heat oil and cook bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon but keep the fat and oil in the pan.
  2. Add onion, carrots and celery and cook on medium high heat until onion is translucent. Usually about 5 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and cook until it starts to brown.
  4. Place all the ingredients into a slow cooker.
  5. Cook on high for 6 hours or slow for 8 hours.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 468
  • Fat 18 g
  • Sugar 6 g
  • Carbohydrates 6.25 g
  • Protein 19.25 g
  • Fibre 4.65 g

This was a fun experiment for me. I was trying to find a way to use up the kale. There were three people at the table, who are not the biggest fans of kale and they liked this. I used a mixture of green and purple kale. You could use collard greens, or even swiss chard. This is where you can have fun and make it your own.