Sunday, July 15, 2012

As Healthy as Cheesy Vegetable Chowder Gets...

Around 3pm today, my stomach started growling. I've been doing well with eating right lately...although yesterday I allowed myself a cheat meal (cheesy potatoes oh em gee) and I was craving a comfort meal. We pondered over Cracker Barrel but it's so far and I don't think I can control myself in there just yet.

I decided to make Broccoli Cheddar soup, but then figured 'why not throw in every vegetable in my fridge?' soup. 

I wanted to keep eating healthy but I also wanted something that was filling and tasty. I chopped up two red skin potatoes, a few carrots, 1/2 of a red onion (I didn't have any other kind), a spear of broccoli and 1/3 of a yellow cauliflower. I then threw all of the veggies in a big pot and filled it up just so the vegetables were covered. I tossed in a tablespoon of butter, a chicken bouillion cube, garlic salt and pepper. Then I let that simmer until the veggies were cooked.


After that, I gave it all a quick mash with a potato masher (I think? It didn't have any holes and it was smooth...but it mashed so...) and here's where I substituted. Every creamy soup has some kind of dairy/fat that makes it so delicious. Instead of cream or half and half, I used 1 cup of 1% milk and 0% Greek yogurt. I whisked those together and dumped them in. It obviously wasn't as creamy as other soups but it did the job.



I then added some extra sharp cheddar cheese, which is the only bad part of this recipe. It thickened up the soup and also gave it some flavor. You could definitely add low fat or no cheese at all though, it's up to you.

And that was that! My whole house smelled like Panera and I got to satisfy my craving for a creamy, cozy soup..without all of the fat and calories! And that dangerous little biscuit up there? Yeah, I had one (er, two) of them, but I figure it all balanced out. Back on the grind tomorrow! Happy Sunday :)



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