Cooking Light is my favorite “Go-To” resource for a quick and healthy weeknight meal. It’s been cold and blustery this week and the last thing I wanted to do was put together a big fussy sit down meal, but I wanted something hearty enough to be filling.
This soup, that they did a recipe rescue on, has 40 percent fewer calories and 62 percent less fat than the heavy original. It satisfied the need for something hearty and filling without completely blowing the diet while also giving a big sit down meal feel with some crusty bread and a glass of wine!
Broccoli and Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 1 cup pre-sliced mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1.1 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/4 cup)
- 4 cups 1% low-fat milk
- 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
- 4 ounces uncooked vermicelli, broken into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded light processed cheese (such as Velveeta Light)
- 4 cups (1-inch) cubed cooked chicken breast
- 3 cups small broccoli florets (8 ounces)
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Coat pan with cooking spray.
- Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce heat to medium; add butter to mushroom mixture, stirring until butter melts.
- Sprinkle mushroom mixture with flour; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Gradually add milk and broth, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 10 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly.
- Add pasta to pan; cook 10 minutes.
- Add cheese to pan, and stir until cheese melts.
- Add chicken and remaining ingredients to pan; cook 5 minutes or until broccoli is tender and soup is thoroughly heated.
Nutritional Information
Calories 317 Fat 12.3g Sat fat 6.8g Mono fat 2.9g Poly fat .9g Protein 27.5g Carbohydrate 23.8g Fiber 1.9g Cholesterol 74 mg Iron 1.6 mg Sodium 723 mg Calcium 179 mg
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