Date Night Dinners - Soup

9/27/2013 tringel 2 Comments

NOTE: I want to apologize for bailing out on my Date Night DInner's last week. It completed slipped my mind, as I was busy with some other things that day. I know I get you hooked with delicious meals and then let you down. Maybe this is why there are so many commit-a-phobs out there. Anyways, I promise it the wait will be well worth. Last nights meal was full of flavor, and we have lot's of tasty meal ideas brewing for the coming weeks.

Yesterday was the perfect day for soup. It is officially fall, and with that comes the inevitable: cooler weather, changing leaves, pumpkin flavored everything, and of course cold season. Brenden has had a bad case of the sniffles and a sore throat for the past week, and I have an inability to stay warm when it is less then 75 degrees out. So, when we started brainstorming dinner ideas for this weeks date night, the answer was obvious. Soup! It was practically screaming in my face. But the real question was, what kind of soup?

I love soup. All soup (except clam chowder...have you ever had a food that you really want to enjoy, but just don't even though you have tried it time and time again? Yep, that is me with clam chowder). We narrowed our choices down and then finally found a recipe that seemed to fit our cravings for the day. Broccoli Cheddar. Yum, warm, creamy goodness! And there is a vegetable in the title, that has to make it healthy, right? Ok maybe not, the healthiest, but not the worst either. We decide to toast up some garlic bread and add a little meat to the side to make it 100% well rounded. This recipe definitely hit the spot and is a keeper. Try it out, I bet it will be a keeper for you too.



Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Accompanied by Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage and Crusty Garlic Bread
Adapted from myrecipes.com, Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients

• Cooking Spray
• 1 cup chopped onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, shredded
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth (vegetable broth if vegetarian)
• 1 pound broccoli, cut into small florets (okay to have a small range in size)
• 2.5 cups almond milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flower
• Ground black pepper and salt to taste
• 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded.
• 2 hot Italian turkey sausage links (1 per person - omit if vegetarian)
• 4 slices sourdough bread
• Butter to taste
• Garlic powder to taste

Directions

1. Lightly spray a large, nonstick saucepan with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Heat over medium high heat.
4. Add onion and garlic.
5. Saute until tender (about 5 minutes).
6. Add broth and broccoli and bring to a boil.
7. Once soup is boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.
8. In the meantime - heat a skillet over medium heat. 
9. Add sausage links to skillet.
10. Cook thoroughly (about 10-15 minutes), rotating every few minutes.
11. Lay slices of bread on a baking sheet.
12. Spread a light layer of butter on each piece, covering completely.
13. Sprinkle garlic powder on top.
14. Place in oven until bread becomes crispy and begins to brown on edges (about 5 minutes).
15. Back to the soup - Combine milk and flour in a medium bowl.
16. Whisk until well blended.
17. Add mixture to the broccoli mixture and cook for 5 minutes or until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly.
18. Stir in pepper.
19. Remove soup from heat and add cheese.
20. Stir until thoroughly combined.
21. Plate and serve (you can plate everything separately or stir the sausage in, either way it is delicious and all of the flavors compliment each other. You can also place the bread on the bottom of the bowl to create a make shift bread bowl!).