Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Cream Soup is Back on the Menu!

Spring has not sprung in these parts.  In fact, today's forecast calls for snow- and in my particular neck of the woods the word "snow" was followed by "feet", not "inches".  So far we've only received a dusting, but I know better than to think we've dodged it.  All this Winter Redux business means one thing to me: it's still a good time for soup.  (Although it's pretty much always a good time for soup- even if it's 105 degrees outside.) 

Me and soup are friends.  Me and creamy soups are really good friends.  BUT.  I care immensely about health and having arteries that are soft and pliable and adept at keeping me alive, so cream-based soups were, for a long time, off the menu.  Until a couple of years ago, when I discovered the great secret of health-conscious cooks who still want a silky, creamy soup in their bowl.  A mind-blowingly simple substitution that I would like to share with you because it's Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family.  Are you ready for this?  I mean, really, are you ready?  

Evaporated milk.

I know, why didn't I think of that?  Now, make sure it's evaporated and not sweetened condensed because they are NOT interchangeable.  Also, using the lowest-fat evaporated milk is good, but any you can find will be better than heavy cream.  Did you know that ONE fluid cup of heavy cream has 821 calories and 88 grams of fat?!?!  And think about how much heavy cream is called for in your favorite cream soup recipe.  Yikes.  If you use just plain old evaporated milk, not the low-fat version, you'll cut the fat by more than half.  Use a low-fat version and your arteries will sing your praises.   And your soup will still be creamy and dreamy.  Cross my heart. 

3 comments:

Peggy said...

I don't use much cream (or any at all except for the occasional whipping cream) but I did not know that. That is frightening! 821 calories?? Yikes! I will keep the evaporated milk in mind. Later this week I'll actually be mixing up some Magic Mix (recipe at everydayfoodstorage dot net) to make a bit of cream soup for a chicken pot pie that is on the menu for Friday. I've never used the MM recipe or evaporated milk (never made my own cream soup before) so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for posting to WFMW! I love reading all the tips.

Utah Bubble Guy said...

I don't like soup... but I love my wife's soup... it's sooooooooooooooooo freaking good.

Even though it's healthy it's still really good!!!!!!!!!!!

mub said...

I started using evaporated milk in soup a few months ago and it works SO well! I even think it's better than heavy cream *L*