cauliflower cheese soup

LoosingMyLast15

spotted this on panera bread's website (cauliflower cheese soup). how would you cut down the fat? my first thought was reduce the amount of half and half cream in it.

INGREDIENTS
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat white cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.
2. Set aside 12 bite-size cauliflower florets. Coarsely chop remaining cauliflower and set aside.

3. Drop the 12 florets in boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

4. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chopped cauliflower, broth, half-and-half, thyme, pepper, and nutmeg.

5. Cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender. Puree the soup in a blender and return to the pot.
6. Stir in the cheese and salt until the cheese melts and the soup is heated through, 3 minutes. 7. Serve topped with cauliflower florets.

TIP: For a vegetarian soup, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

NUTRITIONAL INFO
Nutrition (per serving): 182 calories, 11 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 10 g fat, 37 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber

wftiger

Fat does not make you fat. Fat is an essential amino acid that your body must have to survive. And 10 grams is certainly not too much for all that cheese and the half and half.

And thanks for the recipe. That looks really good so i am going to try it this weekend.

Mandakat17

bump

coliema

Thanks for posting, sounds delicious!

sherisse69

spotted this on panera bread's website (cauliflower cheese soup). how would you cut down the fat? my first thought was reduce the amount of half and half cream in it.

INGREDIENTS
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat white cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.
2. Set aside 12 bite-size cauliflower florets. Coarsely chop remaining cauliflower and set aside.

3. Drop the 12 florets in boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

4. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chopped cauliflower, broth, half-and-half, thyme, pepper, and nutmeg.

5. Cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender. Puree the soup in a blender and return to the pot.
6. Stir in the cheese and salt until the cheese melts and the soup is heated through, 3 minutes. 7. Serve topped with cauliflower florets.

TIP: For a vegetarian soup, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

NUTRITIONAL INFO
Nutrition (per serving): 182 calories, 11 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 10 g fat, 37 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber

I would assume you could easily take out the half and half. You are pureeing the soup with the melted cheese - that in itself would make it creamy. If you were concerned about the missing liquid, I would replace with more broth, or mix of broth and some skim milk???

kingscrown

Looks tasty. 90 calories coming from fat I'd reduce it too. Only because I don't have a gall bladder and really need to watch that if I don't want pain.

I'd try using just nonfat milk and maybe 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese. I've been experimenting with nutritional yeast. You might be able to cut the cheese back more and add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. It really does give things a cheese like flavor. I was surprised.

sherisse69

Looks tasty. 90 calories coming from fat I'd reduce it too. Only because I don't have a gall bladder and really need to watch that if I don't want pain.

I'd try using just nonfat milk and maybe 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese. I've been experimenting with nutritional yeast. You might be able to cut the cheese back more and add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. It really does give things a cheese like flavor. I was surprised.

Actually excited to hear some opinions about the nutritional yeast. I have been very curious about it. How much do you find you need to use to get a cheesy taste in a recipe?

And I agree that you could likely cut back on the cheese. White cheddar tends to be nice and potent.

LoosingMyLast15

Update…

i made this soup yesterday and it came out great if i do say so myself. hubby loved it. i did tweak the ingredients a bit (i'm assuming i changed the fat content by doing this as well).

chicken stock and half and half change - i changed the chicken stock from 1 cup to 2 and then changed the 1.5 cups of half and half to .5 cup soy milk (personal preference)

Cheddar Cheese change - i grated 1.25 cups of cabot 75% less fat cheddar cheese and .25 of vermont cheddar cheese (the real stuff) did this so the cheese part didn't taste too "fake".

Lastly i didn't have any celery so instead i added 2 carrots instead.

sharfisher

I wonder if nonfat milk and some laughing cow light plus maybe 1/2 c. sharp cheddar would work? I think I'll try. I'll report back. I think I'll have to throw in some broccoli too, I went to the farm stand yesterday and my fridge looks like a scene from hoarders

fancyacuppa

Bump