Okay….now this post and this recipe was inspired by my newest FAVE Food Network host, The Pioneer Woman🙂  She’s awesome!!!! She made this yummy broccoli-cheese-ham soup on her show and it looked Yummilicious served up in her hollowed out bread bowls:) In my mind, the only problem was that her recipe used a WHOLE stick of BUTTER and 4 CUPS of WHOLE milk and 2 CUPS of HALF-N-HALF!!!! Well, I’m sure that her recipe made in just that way is FANTABULOUS, but me….being the cook aimed at the lighter side, haha…..well, I do try- wanted to see if I could make it a little lighter without diminishing any flavor!  So here is my take on this awesomely, amazing Broccoli-Cheese & Ham Soup!  You can find Ree Drummond’s original recipe HERE…

You will need….

2 large sized broccoli bunches (cleaned, trimmed and chopped) **I also used a bag of frozen broccoli florets just to make sure that my soup was extra nutritious…haha**

1 medium onion (diced)

2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (for sautéing the onions)

salt and pepper (flavoring each layer carefully**remembering that the cheese will add some salt…so be careful!!!)

1 nice dash/grate of nutmeg

1 clove of garlic (finely minced)

2 cups of 2% Milk

2 cups of Low Sodium, Low Fat Chicken Stock

2 cups of 2% Sharp Cheddar Cheese (or whatever low fat cheese that you have on hand)

1 cup of 2% Italian Blend Cheese

**Don’t forget to reserve some of the cheese for toppings.**

As I stated above, I’m SURE her version is FANTABULOUS….but, I would find it hard to believe that it could be any better than this yummy bowl was:)

Yes, I am using a BOWL because in my lovely area….cute, little bread for hollowing out into bowls are hard to find!!!

 

 I’m one happy “Soup” girl!!!! Thanks for the inspiration Ree….LOVE the show!!!