cream of mushroom soup // light!

I have been wanting to make a lightened up version of Cream of Mushroom soup for a while now but I have just never gotten around to it. Like I've said before, my husband isn't the biggest fan of soups, but today when he forgot to save me a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store he works at, I decided to make the soup instead! It took me only about a half-hour to make and it is delicious! I found several recipes on Pinterest, but I couldn't decide on which one to use so I kind of based my recipe off a couple that I found on there and made it my own. And here is what I came up with:

Cream of Mushroom Soup (light!)

1/4 cup butter (I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter light)

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I use SpiceWorld)

1 8-oz container Monterrey sliced mushrooms (pre-washed) 

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 cup red wine (I use a red blend)

5 cups chicken broth (I use 2 chicken bouillon cubes and 3 teaspoon chicken flavored better than bouillon)

1 cup fat-free half and half

4 oz Swiss cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons cornstarch*

Directions:

Melt butter at medium-high heat in large pan. Add minced garlic and mushrooms. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add in onion and cook until translucent, stirring frequently. 

Stir in wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced. Add in chicken broth and fat-free half and half. Let simmer and add in shredded Swiss, stirring frequently. 

*To make this a thicker soup, you can add in cornstarch, starting with 2 tablespoons and adding more from there to desired thickness. I personally like my soup, well.. Soupy! So I chose to omit the cornstarch. 

Serve immediately. 

This recipe makes 6 servings, 230 calories, 13 g fat, 787 g sodium, 12 g carbs per serving. 

Since I used fat-free half and half, the bouillon rises to the top and the half and half goes to the bottom. Completely normal, just stir it up before serving. I served mine with grilled Swiss cheese sandwiches and the hubs was pleased. (If there is one thing I learned in college, it was how to make a mean grilled cheese!) I would have taken a picture, but he finished it all before I could.. Hungry boy!

Enjoy!