Healthier Cheeseburger Chowder

 

 

     I am trying very hard to eat foods that taste as much like things I "used to cook" and yet have less fat and calories. I think most things can be changed a little bit and still have textures and flavors that taste good. People say that after eating mostly "clean" foods, they no longer want things that aren't healthy. Well, I'm not sure I agree with that. Chocolate still tastes great to me and I have some almost daily. After almost 3 months of healthy eating, greasy things don't sound very good to me anymore (but they never really did). I still would be blissfully happy putting heavy layers of butter and cheese on most everything. I lightened the cheese load in this soup quite a bit and I wasn't sure if we would like it this way, but it was actually quite good for a healthy option.

 

     I bought my first bottle of canola oil to make this recipe. I don't use a lot of oil other than olive oil, but I have noticed that many recipes now call for canola oil instead of vegetable oil.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

8 oz. extra lean ground beef

2 tsp. canola oil

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1 large potato peeled and chopped

pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. paprika

cayenne pepper (small amount-optional)

2 cans 99% fat free chicken broth

1/4 cup reduced-fat evaporated milk

1 T. flour (I used whole wheat)

3/4 cup shredded reduced fat (not fat free) cheddar cheese

 

     Brown the beef in a small stock pan. Drain, remove from pan and set aside. Add canola oil to same pan and sauté celery, carrots and potato until almost tender. Sprinkle with pepper, paprika and cayenne. Add chicken broth and simmer until veggies are nice and tender. Using a potato masher (or a fork) slightly mash the cooked veggies to thicken the broth a bit, but still leaving large chunks. Mix milk with the flour and stir it into the soup, stirring until blended. Add back in the beef and the cheese and stir until melted.

 

This recipe makes 4 servings @ 249 calories per serving.





    

 

Enjoy!

 

I am joining Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday