It feels like soup season– there’s something about these blustery winds and cloudy skies that make you want to curl up with a nice hot bowl of soup. However delicious these may taste, sometimes they start to get a little heavy after a few months of cold weather. We have a few suggestions for how we combat the fat, but save the flavors.
- Use reduced-fat milk: We all love the richness of cream, but using low-fat milk instead of heavy cream or half-and-half can give your once heavy soups a lighter flavor, which can be an opportunity to savor a few of the other flavors. This Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup skips the heavy cream and butter and instead uses low-fat milk, sour cream, and flour.
- Get creative with your substitutions: In a bisque, heavy cream is typically one of the bases. This Fresh Corn & Red Pepper Bisque recipe uses sour cream to increase the creaminess of the base, but not add the same fat content that a heavy cream adds.
- Add a small amount of rice or potato for thickening: This Creamy Tomato Bisque is a perfect example of a way to replace the heavy cream with protein-rich tofu and brown rice for a full-flavored and nutritious meal.
- Make a thickened puree from starchy vegetables: If this sounds easy enough, but you’re not completely sure what to do, we’ve included a little step-by-step to help you out
- Sautee aromatics (onions, leeks, garlic) in butter or olive oil
- Peel and cube the main vegetable (this could be potatoes, squash, yams) put into chicken or vegetable stock, and simmer
- Puree the mixture in a blender or, if you want chunkier soup, only puree half
With a few tweaks, your richest special-occasion soups can become your healthy go-to recipes. Do you have a favorite recipe we’ve missed? Share it in the comments!
