Anything You Want it to be Soup

I recently returned from a 4 day vacation trip to Las Vegas with my sister-in-law. We had a wonderful time - saw "Jersey Boys" and "Donny and Marie", played the slot machines, shopped and partook of many appealing buffets. The money I spent in Vegas stayed in Vegas, but the extra pounds adhered and came home with me. So, it's back on the WeightWatchers track for me. And here's a soup to get me started!

I was shopping in our neighbourhood Superstore (Loblaws in other parts of the country) a few days ago. Normally, the fresh produce in this store looks very tired and unappealing, but that day was an exception. There were bunches of fresh spinach that looked outstanding! Clean and perky and irresistable. I had to buy a pound of it!

 Part of it would go into a salad, and part of it would be for a soup recipe that I got from my sister-in-law who got it from her mother. I do not know the original source of the recipe. The original title of the soup was Broccoli-Cheese Soup, but the vegetables can be anything you want them to be. I used spinach and broccoli this time, but I would try cauliflower, carrots, leeks, turnip, and even potato if I wasn't trying to cut back on the carb calories.

Broccoli Cheese Soup (or Anything You Want it to Be Soup)


1 tbsp. canola oil
small chopped onion (I used the white part of 3 leeks that were about 1-1/4" in diameter)
2 diced carrots (approx. 1 cup)
1 stalk chopped celery (approx. 1/2 cup)
4 cups of water
4 tsp. of chicken bouillon flavouring
(I used vegetable broth in place of the water and bouillon flavouring
2 pinches of kosher salt (1 tsp. if you're not watching salt content)
freshly ground pepper - a liberal amount if you like pepper
1/2 lb. chopped broccoli including the stalk
1/2 lb. fresh spinach including stems
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1 cup shredded cheese - preferably low fat

1. Saute the onion or leek, carrots and celery in the canola oil until softened.

2. Bring liquid to a boil. Add the bouillon flavouring if using water.Add salt, pepper.
3. Add the sauteed vegetables and the fresh vegetables and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked - approx 15-20 minutes.

4. Toward the end of the cooking time, reduce the heat and add the skim milk.
5. Add the cheese and allow it to melt into the soup.

6. Puree with a hand blender while it is still warm.
7. If desired, garnish with some fresh dill or any suitable herb of your choice, and serve!

This recipe made 7 cups of soup. With low fat shredded cheese, that would work out to approx. 2 points per cup serving. With regular cheese, it would be closer to 3 points.