Healthier Potato Broccoli Chowder
Why I Love This Recipe
I slightly modified this from the "Healthified" Cheesy Potato Chowder on EatBetterAmerica.com because I don't like onions and I was making adjustments along the way. Serving size is about 1 1/4 cups each and I served this with some fresh baked french bread one night and made a salad the next night to have with this. This was much thicker the next day so I mixed some more skim milk into the chowder as I reheated. If you're a vegetarian, feel free to use vegetable stock, I've done this in other recipes and had great success. Also, if you're really looking to save time, boil the potatoes in the broth and just pull out the potato you need mash.
Here's what eatbetteramerica has to say about their recipe:
71% less fat • 69% less sat fat • 50% more fiber than the original recipe—see the comparison. Chock-full of healthified ingredients, this is one soup you’ll want to chow down. The fat is drastically reduced while fiber is increased by going green with broccoli. From eatbetteramerica.
Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 240 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 6g (Saturated Fat 4g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 20mg; Sodium 710mg; Total Carbohydrate 32g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 5g); Protein 13g % Daily Value*: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 25%; Calcium 30%; Iron 15% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Medium-Fat Meat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 MyPyramid Servings: 1 c Dairy, 1 c Vegetables
*% Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Ingredients You'll Need
6 medium red potatoes (2 lb), unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes - I actually peeled all but one or two of the potatoes because I didn't want a ton of skins in the chowder
1 carton (32 oz) Swanson reduced-sodium chicken broth (4 cups) - this is the base of the chowder, so use Swanson and not the store brand
1/2 teaspoon salt - I eliminated this because there's enough sodium in the recipe already
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bag (12 oz) frozen broccoli cuts - I used fresh because I always prefer to use fresh, to save money, I'm sure the frozen would work just fine.
1/3 cup flour
1 cup fat-free (skim) milk
8 oz brick reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups) - I just bought a bag of shredded cheese instead, saves time and since I don't have a dishwasher, saves the pain of cleaning my shredder.
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream - I eye-balled this and probably used closer to 1 cup.
4 medium green onions, chopped (1/4 cup) - yuck, hate onions, but I don't mind onion powder so I used about 1 tsp. of onion powder.
Directions
1. In 5-quart Dutch oven, place potatoes; add just enough water to cover. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. Drain. Reserve 1 cup potatoes; return remaining potatoes to saucepan. In small bowl, mash reserved potatoes with fork; return to saucepan.
2. Stir in broth, pepper and onion powder. Heat to boiling. Add broccoli. Return to boiling; cook uncovered 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium.
3. In small bowl with wire whisk, stir flour into milk until well mixed. Add milk mixture to potato mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens and boils. Stir in cheese until melted and smooth. Stir in sour cream; cook until thoroughly heated.
4. To serve, ladle soup into bowls.
Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 240 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 6g (Saturated Fat 4g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 20mg; Sodium 710mg; Total Carbohydrate 32g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 5g); Protein 13g % Daily Value*: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 25%; Calcium 30%; Iron 15% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Medium-Fat Meat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 MyPyramid Servings: 1 c Dairy, 1 c Vegetables
*% Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
