Healthy Meal of the Week

Hey all!  This week’s healthy meal is “Tomato-Basil Soup” from the March 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  It was very easy and fairly quick to make.  It was also a hit with Scarlett, she loved it.  I loved it too, very tasty and seems like it should be more calories than it actually is.   Check out the recipe below, try it out, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ cups pre chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, chopped

¾ cup chopped fresh basil

1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

½ cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, cut into cubes

2 cups 1% low-fat milk

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

12 ( ½ -inch-thick) slices French bread

Cooking spray

1 garlic clove, halved

1 ounce shredded Asiago cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat broiler to high.

2.  Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion; sauté 3 minutes.  Stir in garlic; cook for 1 minute.  Add basil and tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Stir in cream cheese until melted.  Place mixture in blender and blend till smooth.  Return to pan; stir in milk, salt and pepper.  Return to medium-high; cook 2 minutes.

3.  Place bread on baking sheet; light coat with cooking spray.  Broil 1 minute.  Rub garlic over toasted side; turn bread over.  Top with Asiago; broil 1 minute.

Serves 4 (serving size 1 ¼ cups soup and 3 toasts)

Nutritional information:  312 calories; 13.9g total fat (6.3g saturated fat; 4.5g mono.; 0.9g poly); 13.2g protein; 33.8g carbohydrates; 3.4g fiber; 33mg cholesterol; 14mg iron; 506mg sodium; 281mg calcium