Delicious Ham and "Potato" Soup

The traditional recipe for ham and potato soup uses potato, and a butter/flour mixture for a thickener. I switched out the potato and used cauliflower to save over 90 calories and 25 carbohydrates per cup of vegetable. I also ditched the butter/flour thickener and used cream cheese which added a ton of flavor without any extra calories.



3 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt, or to taste
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
5 TBS cream cheese

Combine the cauliflower, celery, onion, ham and broth in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until cauliflower is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, puree 1/2 of the cauliflower chunks with the cream cheese until very smooth. Add puree back to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings.

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional Soup = 195 calories, 19.5 carbs, 1.9g fiber, 10.5g fat, 6.1g protein
"Healthified" Soup = 71 calories, 3.8g carbs, 1.4 g fiber (2.4 effective carbs), 3.9g fat, 5.5 g protein