Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Loaded baked potato soup … sounds decadent, and certainly can be, if made in the traditional manner. This soup uses every trick in the book to lighten it, yet still retains the flavors from the original soup so that it is delicious and everyone asks for more.

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
1/2 C chopped onion
1/4 C chopped celery
1 tsp minced garlic
4 cups water
1 Tbs low sodium chicken bullion
4 baked russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
salt and pepper to taste

toppings:

1/4 cup shredded  cheese or shredded cheese alternative
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped green onions or chives
1/4 cup chopped cooked bacon
1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain soy yogurt, or low fat sour cream

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot. Add onion, celery, and garlic and saute until the onion begins to turn translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the water and the chicken bullion to the soup pot, then add the potatoes. Cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 10 more minutes. Transfer the soup to a blender and process until smooth. Taste soup and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour soup into bowls. Let each person add their toppings of choice.

Serves 4

Stealthy Cooking Tip: This soup is relatively low fat when it is plain. The original recipes for loaded baked potato soup include bacon, butter, cheese, and sour cream right in the soup. These tastes haven't been eliminated from the final version of this soup, they've just changed position from being part of the soup to being on top of the soup. In fact, that's the secret to success for this recipe. Because the portion size of the toppings is limited to approximately 1 tablespoon per serving, the caloric and fat increases are minimal. Original recipes would increase the amounts of what are now toppings to about 4 times that amount. Also, because they are on top of the soup, their visual appeal and taste appeal is increased. What you see is so convincing to what you taste! Your taste buds will think you are experiencing the full fat version of loaded baked potato soup, and only the cook knows that it has been trimmed down into a substantially healthier version!