Baked Potato Soup – Load It Up

Yum!  Do you enjoy a baked potato with all the fixin’s?  I must admit I do!  What is your favorite topping?  Mine is bacon. And even choosing just what to put on top…when my husband gets done “loading” his potato, it is a masterpiece (and he enjoys every bite)!  But we’ve learned a few things about the balancing act with carbs…and so, a loaded baked potato finds it’s way onto my plate once in a blue moon.  However, this soup…now this i can enjoy perhaps every full moon!

A friend had asked me for a recipe for this soup. (I had never even heard of ‘Baked Potato Soup!’)   You can only imagine the variety of recipes to be found out on the internet!  Well, you can easily guess just what they were “loaded” with—many more calories than I desire to serve to my husband and guests (and me)!   And we surely couldn’t include a recipe like most of those I saw on our Monday post on the At Home w/ GCH blog!

So here is how I made our healthy-but-oh-so-yummy version—this recipe includes cauliflower. Using cauliflower as a main ingredient does a number of things in a healthy and yummy way:

• provides our bodies with more veggies
• and for those of you trying to sneak veggies into your family’s repertoire…perfect!
• keeps the carb count down (approximately the same # of carbs in an entire head of cauliflower as in one russet potato)
• bulks up the soup so it is thick and creamy without exhorbitant quantities of heavy cream and cheese (lots of fat and calories)

I encourage you to try this soup…it is a very satisfying comfort food but is light on the carbs and the fat calories.  A nice treat!  Enjoy!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Healthy but oh-so-yummy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients
soup:
2 medium-sized russet* potatoes, washed and dried
1 head of cauliflower, rough chopped
1+1/2 cups chicken, or vegetable, broth
1+1/2 cups 2% milk (warmed)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
toppings:
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use turkey bacon if you wish)
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 cup shredded very sharp cheddar cheese
dried parsley

Directions

• First get the baked potatoes going. After scrubbing them, pierce potatoes with a fork in 4 or 5 places. I prepared mine in the microwave oven (on high for 5 minutes; turn over and cook another 3-5 minutes, until tender). Or, you can bake them at 400° for approximately 1 hour or until tender. Either way, when potatoes are done, cool for 10-15 minutes. Then they can be peeled and chopped. This recipe is also a great way to use up leftover baked potatoes!
• While the potatoes are cooking and cooling, you can prepare the other main ingredients. Here’s how I cook bacon: I stack the slices and, using kitchen scissors, I cut it into approximately 1+1/2″ to 2″ pieces. I find that the bacon cooks much more quickly and evenly this way. Place the pieces into a COLD small frying pan, heat over medium heat. Once the bacon starts frying, I reduce the heat a bit and cook to the desired degree of doneness, keeping a careful eye so that it does not burn. I like to cook bacon over a medium low heat so that most of the fat is rendered out. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, remove the bacon, leaving the drippings, and place onto a couple of paper towels to finish draining. Set aside for topping the soup.
• Now while the bacon is cooking, place the cut-up cauliflower into a medium-sized pot along with the broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, then cover and simmer ‘til tender. Do not drain.
• Once cauliflower is cooked, add warmed milk and the chopped baked potatoes to the pot, and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer ‘til thoroughly heated, stirring once or twice; this will take just a couple of minutes. Remove pot from heat and scoop out about 1/3 of the veggies; set aside.
• Now you are going to puree (smooth out) the soup. I use an immersion or stick blender** to puree. Other options would be to use a potato masher, or to puree the soup in your blender. You must be very careful doing it this way because it is hot! See below for tips (just ‘cause God loves you…we don’t want to see you get hurt!). Once pureed, place pot back on very low heat, add back in the reserved veggies, the sour cream, half the parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. heat on very low ‘til nice and hot, stirring occasionally.

Now to “load” your potato soup!  Ladle soup into each bowl.  Top each serving with 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese, a sprinkle of the remaining parsley, and some of the crumbled bacon. Healthy but-oh-so-yummy!

   ♥      ♥      ♥      ♥      ♥ 

God loves you!  ♥   (Don’t ever forget that!)

♥   Coleen

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