Figure-Friendly Baked Potato Soup

Hello, friends! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Did you eat enough? I know I did. If you don’t believe me, here is some proof…

Just a glimpse of the spread my grandmother puts together every Christmas Eve. I’m pretty sure these pictures explain a lot about why I am the way I am…

So. Now that we have established that we all ate perhaps a bit too much this past weekend, I thought I would share a lighter, more figure-friendly recipe to bring us into the new year.

This Cooking Light recipe lightens up a traditional baked potato soup, and is particularly excellent served with brown soda bread. The original recipe serves 4-5, but I have adapted it to make 2-3 servings.

So make some soup, stay warm, and feel better about the 4 pounds of cheese you consumed during the past week (wait…was that just me?).

Figure-Friendly Baked Potato Soup

Yield: 2-3 servings

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

3 baking potatoes
¼ cup + 3 tablespoons flour
4 cups 2% or skim milk
⅔ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
⅔ cup reduced-fat or non-fat sour cream

Optional toppings:

Shredded cheddar cheese
Diced green onion OR minced chives
Cooked, crumbled bacon

Instructions

Bake potatoes as desired. Allow them to cook, then peel and coarsely mash them. Set aside.
Place flour in a large Dutch oven. Gradually add milk, whisking until the flour is blended. Heat the milk mixture over medium heat until it is thick and bubbly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Add the mashed potatoes, most of the cheese, salt and pepper. Heat, stirring constantly, until the cheese melts. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until heated through; do not boil.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish as desired with cheese, green onions or chives and bacon.