Skinny Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Question - if you lighten up traditional potato soup, you can add extra toppings, right?  Right! And the fact that this recipe is fast and easy to make means you can sit down to a piping hot bowl of homemade soup in less than an hour.

Start by cooking chopped cauliflower in chicken stock until it's tender.  The smaller you chop the cauliflower, the faster it will cook.  

The cauliflower does not need to be completely covered with chicken stock - we're going to cover the pan and take full advantage of the power of hot steam.  Total cooking time should be about 10 minutes.

Add leftover cooked Idaho potatoes and ground black pepper (hold off on adding any salt at this time).  The potatoes can be boiled, steamed, mashed, baked - just be sure to peel them so the finished color of the soup stays light and bright (you know, for optimal eye appeal).  

I know some people think you should use white pepper in light colored soups, but I'm not fond of the flavor and I really like to see the specks of black pepper in my soup.  That's just me.  You do you.  

Add milk and plain Greek yogurt.  You can substitute sour cream or creme fraiche, but Greek yogurt adds a ton of protein.  

Turn off the heat and grab your handy-dandy immersion blender, aka stick blender.  You could use a food processor or traditional blender as well, but you have to be careful not to over-process the mixture to prevent the potatoes from developing a glue-like texture. 

Blend until smooth-ish - I like my soup to retain a little texture, and actually, a lump or two doesn't bother me at all.  Turn the heat back on and heat the soup for a few more minutes until hot.  Important, taste at this point and add salt if necessary, being mindful of the salt content of whatever toppings you plan to add.

Now for the fun part, garnish with plenty of traditional baked potato toppings like, chives, bacon, cheese - whatever floats your boat.  Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• immersion blender https://amzn.to/33EyFtE

• chicken base https://amzn.to/2WKgmSe

• nakiri knife https://amzn.to/2vGiyPE

• rondeau https://amzn.to/2xiWNWM

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Skinny Loaded Baked Potato Soup

makes 4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds chopped cauliflower

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 1 1/4 pounds leftover peeled and cooked Idaho potatoes, cubed

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream or creme fraiche)

• Kosher salt to taste

• garnish: chopped chives, shredded cheddar, cooked bacon, etc

Directions

1. In a 5 or 6-quart casserole over medium heat, cook cauliflower in chicken stock, covered, until the cauliflower is tender.

2. Add cooked potatoes, black pepper, milk, and Greek yogurt.

3. Turn off heat and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.

4. Turn heat back on and heat soup for a few minutes until hot.

5. Taste soup and add salt if necessary, being mindful of the salt content of the toppings you plan to garnish with.

6. Garnish and serve.

Skinny Italian Sausage and Peppers

Everybody loves sausage and peppers, but let's face it, serving it on an Italian sandwich roll makes for a very heavy meal which is basically straight up man food.  But here's my lighter, low-carb take that is satisfying enough to keep your man, or anyone else for that matter, very, very happy.  And here's a bonus, you can make the whole thing in one pan.  Let me show you how it's done.

Start by heating some really good extra virgin olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet or dutch oven over medium-high.

Add Italian sausage links - use hot or sweet (mild), whichever you prefer.  Today I'm using sweet.

Turn the sausage links so they brown on all sides.  If the links stick, they're not ready to turn.... don't force them... they will release when they're ready.  

Remove sausages from the pan when they're sufficiently browned.  They're not cooked through at this point, so don't be tempted to taste yet.

Next we'll add the peppers and onions to the same pan.  I love to use a colorful mix of bell peppers.  Also, if you want your onions to hold their shape well, cut them from pole to pole; if you want them to break down, cut them across the equator.  For this recipe, I like them to hold their shape so I cut them from pole to pole.

Add the salt and pepper too.  This will not only flavor the veggies, but it will help them start to release their juices, which will dissolve the browned bits the sausages left in the pan.  Mmmm, we're building lots of flavor here.  Stir every now and then until the veggies soften a bit.  

This would also be a good time to add a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes if you like.

Now it's time to add minced garlic.  Lots and lots of yummy garlic.

Oh man... this is going to be soooooo good.

And now dried oregano, just because.  Continue to cook, stirring often...

I'm dying here.  My kitchen smells amazing!

Alrighty - now I'm going to break tradition by adding a big, juicy, ripe tomato that I chopped into 1/2-inch pieces.  Get everything in there, seeds and all. 

Oh yes, it won't be long now.

Time to nestle those partially cooked sausages down into the onion and pepper mix.  

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. 

Simmer until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 165F.  

Just before serving, toss in some fresh basil and parsley which will add lovely color and amazing flavor.  Serve immediately over pasta, on Italian sandwich rolls, or just place one or two sausages on a plate and top it with a generous helping of the pepper and onion mixture. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• rondeau https://amzn.to/2MN8Y4s

• locking tongs https://amzn.to/2NInIRP

• instant read thermometer https://amzn.to/2LecqTH

• nakiri knife https://amzn.to/3ryht6D

• the best olive oil https://amzn.to/399wsKS

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Skinny Italian Sausage and Peppers

makes 3-4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 5 or 6 Italian sausage links, hot or sweet

• 1 large white onion, sliced

• 2 large bell peppers, sliced (any color)

• 4 or 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in the palm of your hand

• 1 large tomato, diced (optional)

• fresh chopped parsley and basil (optional)

• Italian sandwich rolls (optional)

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown sausage links in oil until brown on all sides; remove from skillet and set aside.

2. Lower heat to medium-low and saute the onions and bell peppers in the same skillet until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the garlic, crushed red peppers, and oregano; continue sauteing until the onions start to caramelize.

4. Add the sausage links back to the pan (and add the chopped tomato if using); reduce heat to low and cover pan until sausage reaches 165F.

5. Serve immediately over pasta, on Italian sandwich rolls, or just place one or two sausages on a plate and top it with a generous helping of the pepper and onions mixture.

Alternative Cooking Method:

• Here’s what to do if all you have on hand is frozen sausage. Place 1 cup of water and a steam rack into the inner pot of an Instant Pot. Place the frozen sausage links on the rack. Seal the Instant Pot and steam on “manual” or “high pressure” for 25 minutes. While the sausages steam, make the rest of the recipe in a skillet. When the sausages are done steaming, place them into the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. The sausages won’t be as brown as the recipe above, but they’ll be extra tender.