Sunday marked the first snowfall of the year. A cold, wintry day calls for a warm hearty dinner. I love this recipe for Pasta e Fagioli. Since this soup is best when simmered for about an hour, it’s perfectly suited for weekend evenings when one has time to hang out in the kitchen. Preparing the vegetables was also a time-consuming process for me, as it took me awhile to julienne the carrots.

Due to copyright restrictions, I am unable to post the recipe here. However, you can find it on Top Secret Recipes. The flavor of this pasta e fagioli soup is very similar to the one found at Olive Garden, but this soup is thicker and seems to contain more pasta.

I have made very few changes to the original recipe. Due to personal preferences, I used crushed tomatoes in place of diced tomatoes and substituted ground turkey for ground beef. I also omitted the chopped celery, adding 1/4 tsp of celery salt for flavor.

When I prepared the pasta e fagioli soup this time, I found that the finished product was too thick, so I added 1 cup of chicken broth a few minutes before I served the soup. Next time, I might cut down on the pasta. According to Top Secret Recipes, this recipe yields 8 servings. In my experience, it yields 8 large servings! I’m going to try freezing some of the leftovers to keep on hand for quick weeknight meals.

Last winter, I fell in love with a tomato cheddar soup at Au Bon Pain. The soup was quite simple, but it was tasty. I figured that it would be easily enough to replicate, so I set out in search of a recipe. I ultimately settled on one from the website for Whole Foods Market, and altered it to fit my tastes. It’s worth noting that the tomato cheddar soup recipe currently displayed on their site is different than the one that I altered last winter.

Using some canned ingredients makes this a quick weeknight meal that can be easily made in 30 minutes or less. Since I dislike the texture of tomatoes, I often use a can of pureed tomatoes in place of the diced tomatoes. The resulting soup has the same flavor, but a smoother consistency. The original recipe did not contain any seasoning other than salt and pepper, so I added a healthy amount of dried basil and oregano. The soup still tastes good without the spices, but it’s rather bland. In an effort to make this soup even healthier, I use reduced fat/reduced sodium chicken broth and reduced fat shredded cheddar.

The resulting tomato cheddar soup is thick and warm and flavorful – the perfect accompaniment to a slice of crusty bread. If you’re looking for comfort food, serve it with a grilled cheese sandwich!

Tomato Cheddar Soup

Yields 4 servings

olive oil
3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced or pureed tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup skim milk

1) Heat olive oil in a medium pot. Saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
2) Add tomatoes, broth, salt, pepper, sugar, basil and oregano. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
3) Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheese and milk.

My husband and I live one mile from Panera Bread. Having quick, delicious take-out easily accessible is both a good and a bad thing. On cool fall and winter evenings, a tasty sandwich and piping hot bowl of soup really hits the spot. Since broccoli cheese soup is a favorite of ours, I figured we could save some money by occasionally making it at home.

This simple Cooking Light brocolli cheese soup recipe takes about 30 minutes to prepare, making it an ideal mid-week dinner. Served on its own or with crusty bread, it?s warm comfort-food at its best.

The original recipe calls for 2 ? cups of milk and 3 cups of chicken broth. I altered the recipe to use less milk and more broth. I also use skim milk, as opposed to 2%, because that is the kind that we keep in the house. The original recipe also recommends pureeing part of the soup to make it thicker, but I have never done this.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Yields 6 1 1/3 cup servings

cooking spray or olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (16-ounce) package broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)

1) Heat a large nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until tender.
2) Add broth and broccoli. Bring broccoli mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes.
3) Combine milk and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until well blended.
4) Add milk mixture to broccoli mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly.
5) Stir in pepper.
6) Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts.