Skinny Broccoli Cheese Soup
It's a chilly November day and one of my Dad's favorite soups is Broccoli Cheese, which screams comfort food. I've always stayed away from making this soup for the mere fact that it's chock full of calories and saturated fat. Some quick research and I found that one of my favorite websites, Cooking Light, has a healthy version of this soup. I used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and added more broccoli without losing any of the cheesy goodness. I plan to serve it with some crusty organic garlic bread. Looking forward to seeing what Dad thinks of this recipe....stay tuned:)
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 3 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 4 cups broccoli florets coarsely chopped
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 chopped carrot
- ½ tsp salt I omitted this
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ + 1/8 cup half-and-half I used fat-free half-and-half
- 4 ounces shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese divided
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves optional, garnish
Instructions
- Combine first 7 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until broccoli is tender.
- Turn off the heat. Using an immersion (hand) blender, blend the soup until it's creamy.
- Stir in 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup half-and-half and 2 ounces cheese. You don't need to turn the stove back on again, the residual heat from the soup should melt the cheese.
- Top evenly with remaining 1 tbsp cheese per bowl and parsley.
- Adapted from Cooking Light
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