I AM OUT OF BACON. This never happens. I don’t know how it happened. If I had bacon, I would have started by cutting up 3 strips and cooking them in the bottom of the soup pan for about 10 minutes, then adding the rest of the ingredients.
You will need:
- 3 strips of bacon IF YOU HAVE ANY
- Half of a large (sweet) onion
- 3.75 lbs of broccoli, chopped
- 3/4 lb yellow potato
- 4 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
- 1 cup of 2% or whole milk, or an additional cup of broth
- 1 3/4 cups low fat shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 – 1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp onion powder
- Salt and pepper
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| Potatoes, onions, broth, missing bacon |
Start by cutting up the bacon and cooking it in the soup pot for about 10 minutes. Roughly chop the potatoes and onion and add to the pot. Add the broth and turn the stove to medium high. Chop the broccoli into small enough pieces so they all fit and add to the pot, plus a couple pinches of salt on top. The broth should cover the potatoes, but not the broccoli – it will get steamed by the broth. Cover and continue cooking on medium high for 10 minutes, turn down to low and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the broccoli is soft.
Meanwhile, cook the chicken (I just boil it) and chop finely. You can do bite sized pieces but I like small pieces. Set aside.
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| Finely chopped chicken |
Remove soup pot from heat. Blend using an immersion blender or a food processor. If you’re using an immersion blender, you kind of have to work from the top and push down. It blends eventually. Add the cup of milk and blend. Add nutmeg, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add the chicken and cook uncovered on low for 10 more minutes. At this point, it would probably be ready to eat, but David was not home yet so I let it cook on very low, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.
Makes 5 good sized servings, at only about 425 calories each.
