Thursday, December 5, 2013

Pinterest Love plus Roasted Cauliflower & Aged Cheddar Soup!

Over the past week I have gotten back on my Pinterest boards exploring past pins and pinning new ones.  There is no lack of inspiration in this world with the internet at hand and especially with Pinterest.  How awesome is it that you can basically create your own story boards (that would have originally been magazine clippings push pinned to a bulletin board) all in one place!?  With my love of food and low-cal eating I have collected a lot of recipes that I am anxious to try (some just a small taste because they are fattening rich, some a whole plate full serving because they are low-cal!).  I invite you to check out my boards and would love for you to follow any/all of my boards that interest you. 

I made a recipe this evening for my husband that I pinned on Pinterest from Kevin at Closet Cooking:

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup (Click the link for the recipe!)

I tweeked (confused that with tweeking, my bad) tweaked the recipe only slightly.  I skipped the step of sautéing the chopped thyme.  Instead I dropped a bouquet of thyme tied with butcher's twine in the broth.  I fished it out and discarded it before the puree step.  Also, I dare say I used two cups of white cheddar instead of 1 1/2 like the recipe stated.  And yes, I used a cup of heavy cream to make it creamy.  (Kevin suggested it!)  I reserved a little bit of the cheese and fresh chopped thyme for a garnish. All those tweaks and I thought for sure I was breaking the calorie bank.  It tasted like a cheesy cream of potato soup.  I plugged the recipe into the Lose It! app on my iPhone (after I already ate, wink, wink).  I was pleasantly surprised by how reasonable the calories were!  I estimated the recipe to be 4 servings based on how much I ate.  This deliciously, decadent soup was only 378 calories/serving.  I ate a small romaine lettuce salad with 1/2 a Tbsp. of Marzetti's Simply Dressed Light Caesar dressing (18 calories) just before the soup was ready.  I added a slice of gluten-free toasted baguette (55 calories) for dipping in the last bits of soup.  It was a very satisfying meal.  Of course, I'm scared to tell you the fat content. That means I'm not going to.  Haha! In case you are on a low fat diet I would suggest sticking with the 1 1/2 cups of cheese.  Also, use skim milk or extra broth instead of heavy cream.  I'll try to do that the next time.

I can't wait to try Closet Cooking's Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Gratin next!  Stay tuned for a review.

xoxo

Sara