I gotta say, I'm a sucker for cheese! And I'm not cheese picky either, oh no-no. I will eat just about any kind of cheese that is out there. Blue, pink, soft, hard, sweet, sharp... You name it, I'll probably try it if I haven't already!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I'm weak for cheese. So what's a girl to do about this known weakness? Certainly not cut cheese out of my life. I mean... that's just cruel and unusual punishment.

Nope! This girl needs her cheese fix. So, instead I'll opt to pack as much veggies in with my cheese as I can and do a little Jedi mind trickery on myself.

This is -not- the cheese that you want... but, this is!

I've taken a basic broccoli cheese soup here and crammed it full of cauliflower and other vegetables to help stretch that cheese out as much as possible without losing any of that cheesy goodness.

It's all about tricking your tastebuds and your mind, remember?

As you can see, this soup has a bit of a texture to it from the cauliflower puree in it. The texture certainly wasn't off-putting to me. In fact, I rather enjoyed it and felt that it gave a bit more depth to the soup. It's a pretty similar feel to that of a potato or maybe grits.

This soup was hearty, warm, and the perfect thing to enjoy on a rather cold winter afternoon.

As you can see, I added a few cheese crumbs on top. I guess you could say that I felt as if I deserved it with eating this bowl full of veggies for lunch!

This soup will actually reheat decently as compared to most other cheese soups. I think it must be because of the cauliflower in there.

Skinny Broccoli Cheese Soup
TheSkinnyFork.com

The Skinny:
Servings: 4 • Size: About 1 1/2 Cup • Calories: 308.1 • Fat: 18.3 g • Carb: 16.1 g • Fiber: 3.4 g • Protein: 22.7 g • Sugar: 9.3 g • Sodium: 982.5 mg

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. Light Butter, Divided
1 Medium White Onion, Chopped
2-3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
2 C. Cauliflower Florettes (Frozen or Fresh)
2 C. Fat Free Milk
2 C. Broccoli Florettes (Frozen or Fresh)
1 Medium Carrot, Peeled & Chopped
2 C. Reduced Sodium Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp. Brown Spicy Mustard
1/2 Tsp. Paprika
1/4 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg
2 C. Reduced Fat Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:

Place 2 tbsp. butter into a large sauce pan with the onion and garlic. Cook over a medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add in the cauliflower and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Carefully stir in the milk and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Use and immersion blender (or carefully transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender with the steam vent removed) to purée; set aside.

Heat the remaining 2 tbsp. of butter in a large stock pot or dutch oven over a medium heat. Add in the broccoli and carrots and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the veggies for 5-7 minutes or until softening.

Add in the chicken stock, mustard, and spices; bring it all back to a boil.

Transfer the cauliflower mixture into the broccoli mixture and stir to combine. Let the soup reheat until it just begins to simmer.

Turn the heat off and add in the cheese slowly, stirring constantly until all of the cheese has melted.

Serve warm right away.

Enjoy!