AJ'S DINER

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Vegetable Cheddar Cheese Soup - three berries

This is my favorite recipe of all! I found it on a bulletin board system one day, but as it made more than what I could eat for myself, I modified and played with it. Very filling as a meal.

Ingredients

2 cups of fresh or frozen vegetables
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
chopped onion

CHEESE SAUCE
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2 tablespoons stick butter
up to 1/4 cup flour
1 1/3 cup milk
up to 2 cups shredded cheddar OR colby cheese
1 or 2 slices of American cheese

Cooking

  1. Put all vegetables, salt, pepper, and onion into a saucepan and add just enough water to cover.
  2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over low heat.
  3. Once butter is melted, slowly add flour. Stir in a little at a time to check consistency. Stop adding flour once you can create a (still moist) ball of flour with the spoon.
  4. Add milk and increase heat. Break up the clumps of flour and stir consistently. The milk will start to thicken and will clump up if not stirred.
  5. Add cheeses. Stir until completely melted. Turn heat down on the cheese sauce.
  6. After vegetables are fully cooked, add entire contents (along with the water which will serve as a broth) to the cheese mixture. Stir well and serve.

Tips

The amount of water you put in with the vegetables (remember that vegetables have their own water, so you will end up with more water than when you started out) determines how thick (or thin) the soup texture will be. I recommend using as little as water as possible to basically steam the vegetables and end up with a very thick, creamy, soup.

If using fresh vegetables, choose ones which have some crunch and of course taste good with cheese (broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots). You will have to cook these a little longer, but don't let them get mushy on you!

Although you don't need the slices of American cheese, it will make your cheese creamier and give it a smoother texture.

More baking tips

Low-Fat Tips

Use reduced fat cheese (cheese made out of 2% milk instead of whole milk), low-fat milk (1% or skim milk), and low-fat margarine.

More low-fat tips

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