Light Loaded Potato Soup

I love soup.  I think there was a month there where I might have made a different kind of soup every week. It also might have been a month when it was 90 degrees outside each day.  So imagine my excitement that we finally have (much more) appropriate weather for soup!  And as soon as I saw two different blog posts about this Light Loaded Potato Soup from Cooking Light, I immediately put it on our week’s meal plan.  It didn’t hurt that I had leftover red potatoes, broccoli was on sale and I always have bacon in the freezer.

The soup is remarkably true to its name – it tastes exactly like a loaded potato! The soup is extremely thick and creamy, even though I used skim milk.  Throwing a little bacon on the top (just a little) makes each bowl that much more luxurious. However, I had the leftovers for lunch today without the bacon and it held up just fine without it.  I tweaked the recipe by pureeing ½ of the potatoes in the food processor and mashing the rest. I also threw in some steamed broccoli which I really enjoyed.

Light Loaded Potato Soup
Taken from: Ezra Pound Cake
Serves 4-6

• 4 (6-ounce) red potatoes
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I did 2 Tbsp all-purpose, 1 Tbsp. white whole wheat)
• 2 cups skim milk, divided
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 bacon slices
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions
• 1-2 heads of broccoli, steamed

-Steam broccoli.
-Scrub red potatoes and dice into about 1 inch cubes. Place potatoes in sauce pan, cover with water and then bring to a boil.  Cook for approximately 10-15 minutes until cubes are easily pierced with a fork (meanwhile, start cooking onions as below).  Drain potatoes into a colander.  Mash potatoes (I used a whisk) and then transfer half of the potatoes to a food processor.  Pulse until potatoes are creamy.
-While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté for 3 minutes. Add broth.
-In a small bowl, combine flour and 1/2 cup milk. Add the mixture to the pan with 1 1/2 cups milk. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook for 1 minute.
-Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in sour cream, salt and pepper. Set aside.
-Move oven rack to the top-middle section and heat broiler. Place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and place bacon strips on top of cooling rack. Broil for approximately 3-5 minutes.  Flip over and cook 30 second to 1 minute on the other side.  Drain bacon on paper towels and then crumble.
-Serve soup with cheese, green onions, crumbled bacon and broccoli.