Cream of Potato Plus

This is youngest daughter here, and I have made my husband happy this week by learning how to cook an easy, cheap, and fairly healthy version of one of his absolute favorites--cream of potato soup! It was so good that I tried the recipe a second time, tweaking the ingredients a bit for even more nutrition, and it worked out great. I'll indicate the reasoning behind my tweaks after the photo of my recipe.

My ingredient list was what I tweaked from the original recipe. The use of red potatoes was because that is what I had on hand, but it came with an added health bonus--they're the least starchy potato variety. Furthermore, I chose not to peel the potatoes, but instead to wash them, thus preserving the skins. Did you know that the skins pack both extra nutrition and fiber? It means that your soup won't be creamy white, but the red skins looked pretty, especially when I crumbled a little bit of sinful bacon on top. Even better, I didn't have to peel potatoes! That's a relief.

The use of skim milk had obvious benefits; it is what we stock in our refrigerator, and it is fat free. I would like to see the nutrition facts for the soup with skim milk.

Finally, I swapped 1 cup of potato for 1 cup of broccoli florets. It was just enough broccoli to make the soup a faint celery green shade, barely discernable, as you can see in the above photo. Nutritionally, the addition of broccoli was a boon! It is lower in calorie, higher in fiber, lower in starch, and adds huge doses of vitamin K and vitamin C, plus it helps your body generate vitamin D, of which most adult Americans have a deficiency. Both my husband and I were pinned as deficient at our most recent physical. This choice made a hint of difference in the taste and appearance, but my husband slurped down what he deemed to be two huge bowls in pleasure!

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Here is the original recipe from Better Homes and Gardens' The New Cookbook: Prizewinning Recipes. It is--hands down--my favorite cookbook.

Cream of Potato Soup
Time: 25 minutes
Makes: 4 side-dish servings

Ingredients
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon dried dill or basil, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, half-and-half, or light cream
1 dash black pepper

Steps
1. In a large saucepan cook desired potatoes and onion, covered in a large amount of boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Set aside 1 cup cooked vegetable mixture.
2. In a food processor, combine the remaining vegetables and broth. Cover and process about 1 minute or until smooth. Set aside.
3. In the same saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, seasoning, salt, and dash of black pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more.
4. Stir in the reserved cooked vegetables and blended vegetable mixture. Cook and stir until heated through. If necessary, stir in additional milk to reach desired consistency. If desired, season to taste with additional salt and black pepper.

Nutrition Facts
Per cup of soup (no indication of which milk product is used)
236 calories
5 g total fat (3 g saturated)
13 mg cholesterol
509 mg sodium
40 g carbohydrate
3 g fiber
8 g protein
5% DV vitamin A
47% DV vitamin C
10% DV calcium
10% DV iron