Cozy Up to Our Healthier, Lighter, and Totally Comforting Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Panini
A gooey, meltingly delicious, golden-crisp grilled cheese sandwich is the perfect partner to our Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup. We lean on reduced-fat cheddar but add a little canola mayo to stretch the cheese and encourage extra meltiness for a mixture that has 50% less sat fat than regular cheddar and saves 190mg sodium over processed American cheese. This is a dinnertime win-win!
Eating healthy should still be delicious.
Both of these recipes are a preview of our new cookbook, Amazing Recipe Makeovers: 200 Classic Dishes at 1⁄2 the Fat, Calories, Salt, or Sugar, which is available for pre-order right now.
Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup Hands-on: 15 min. Total: 1 hr. 30 min. Our Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup saves 185 calories, 10g sat fat, and 618mg sodium over classic creamy tomato bisque.
Roasting your own tomatoes is preferred, but in a pinch, 1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes will do; simply omit the chicken stock, and use the whole can. We recommend serving this with the grilled cheese recipe below.
3 pounds fresh tomatoes, quartered 2 medium shallots, peeled and quartered 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh oregano 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 leek, thinly sliced into half-moons (about 1 1/4 cups) 2 cups unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson 1 (1-ounce) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind 2 ounces fresh basil, leaves and stems separated
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Combine tomatoes, shallots, garlic, oregano, 11⁄2 teaspoons oil, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, and pepper; toss. Arrange tomato mixture on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° about 1 hour or until slightly caramelized.
3. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 11⁄2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add leeks; cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 8 minutes or until tender. Add tomato mixture and any accumulated liquid to pan, cook 2 minutes. Add stock, rind, basil leaves and stems, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes or until liquid is reduced slightly. Remove and discard rind and stems. Place half of soup in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Return pureed soup to pan. Divide evenly among 8 soup bowls; drizzle evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon oil.
SERVES 8 (serving size: about 3⁄4 cup) CALORIES 91; FAT 4.1g (sat 0.6g, mono 2.8g, poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 4g; CARB 12g; FIBER 2g; SUGARS 5g (est. added sugars 0g); CHOL 0mg; IRON 1mg; SODIUM 289mg; CALC 50mg
Grilled Cheese Skillet “Panini” Hands-on: 11 min. Total: 11 min. Our Grilled Cheese Skillet Panini saves 225 calories, 12.1g sat fat, and 161mg sodium over a classic cheddar grilled cheese.
1 tablespoon canola mayonnaise 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 4 ounces 2% reduced-fat shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 1 cup) 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 8 (1-ounce) whole-grain bread slices 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1. Combine mayonnaise and mustard in a medium bowl. Add cheddar and pepper, stirring well to combine (mixture will be very thick). Spread one-fourth of cheese mixture (about 2 tablespoons) over each of 4 bread slices. Top with remaining 4 slices.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Place sandwiches in pan; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned (do not flip). Remove sandwiches from pan. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Turn sandwiches over, and add to pan; cook 3 minutes or until lighly browned and cheese melts. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4 (serving size: 1 sandwich) CALORIES 262; FAT 11.2g (sat 4.8g, mono 3.1g, poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 14g; CARB 25g; FIBER 4g; SUGARS 3g (est. added sugars 2g); CHOL 20mg; IRON 1mg; SODIUM 567mg; CALC 263mg
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