Yummy Baked Potato Soup

Here is a recipe for a healthy version of Baked Potato Soup that I adapted from a Mollie Katzen recipe.

A few things I love about this recipe:

1. Ben loves it. Potato soup is his favorite, and he says that this is his favorite version so far.

2. All of the ingredients are super inexpensive making it a very affordable dinner.

3. It is actually a very low fat and healthful dinner without losing its flavor.

Ingredients:

3 bulbs of garlic

4 large Russet potatoes

1 bag of baby carrots

6 cups water

2 tsp. salt, or to taste

2 tsp. rosemary

2 tsp. pepper, or to taste

crushed red pepper to taste (optional)

8-10 slices of low sodium turkey bacon, crisped and crumbled

Garnish: sharp cheddar cheese, grated & chopped chives

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*, place three bulbs of garlic on a foil covered baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put potatoes, carrots, water, salt and rosemary in a large pot and allow to boil. Once boiling, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes are done.

Once garlic is roasted and is cool enough to touch, squeeze the pulp into a small bowl and mash with the back of a fork.

Stir the garlic mixture into the soup, and once the potatoes are soft enough, transfer the soup in batches to a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.

Transfer the blended soup into another pot, and add pepper, crushed red pepper and turkey bacon. Add more salt or garlic if needed. Garnish with chives and cheese.

We served the soup with homemade rosemary olive oil bread, (thanks Whitney for the idea ;) ) and it was great!

Now if only I could figure out how to make a bread bowl.....