by Mandy Wilks

Created on: January 05, 2011

Broccoli and cheese soup is one of my favourite soups, however as I try not to eat any cheese apart from cottage or extra light soft cream cheese it is not a soup that I will buy ready made or from a restaurant due to the high fat content of the cheese.

However I have come up with a way of making a delicious broccoli cheese soup that I CAN eat on my low fat diet and still lose weight; this is a very easy soup to make and is ready to serve in less than an hour, rather than using a hard cheese in the soup I use a extra light soft cream cheese – this gives the cheesy taste and a creamy consistency without adding on the calories or lots of fats.

This is a really tasty soup for a light lunch or as a starter to am meal, this recipe serves four people and each serving contains around 140calories and 1g saturated fat – perfect for that healthy diet.

Fresh or frozen broccoli can be used or this recipe, or even left over cooked broccoli.

LOW FAT BROCCOLI AND SOFT CHEESE SOUP

INGREDIENTS

Low fat cooking spray

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 potato, peeled and diced into small cubes

Around 300g broccoli (either fresh or frozen), stalks removed but kept

900ml water

2 vegetable stock cubes

1 teaspoon chopped thyme

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

100g Extra Light Soft Cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Spray a large heavy bottomed sauce pan with low fat spray, add onions and garlic and gently fry until the onion is soft but not coloured.

2. Add the potato, broccoli stalks, stock cubes and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add the remaining broccoli, thyme, nutmeg and seasoning, continue simmering for about 15 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked.

4. Take off the heat, remove around ¼ of soup and puree the remaining with a hand blender or in a food processor until smooth

5. Place all the soup and the soft cheese in the saucepan and place back over the heat until the cheese has melted.

6. Taste and adjust seasoning and serve.

There you have a simple and nutritious soup all ready to serve!

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