It’s the end of July and I bet your garden is blooming with tomatoes just like mine. So, it’s time to use these babies up! Enjoy this easy and super low calorie Chunky Tomato Soup and Deconstructed Salad Wedge with your whole family!
Tomatoes, which are actually a fruit and not a vegetable, are loaded with all kinds of health benefits for the body. They are in fact, a highly versatile health product and due to their equally versatile preparation options, there’s really no reason to neglect the tomato as part of a healthy diet.
One of the most well known tomato eating benefit is its’ Lycopene content. Lycopene is a vital anti-oxidant that helps in the fight against cancerous cell formation as well as other kinds of health complications and diseases.
Free radicals in the body can be flushed out with high levels of Lycopene, and the tomato is so amply loaded with this vital anti-oxidant that it actually derives its rich redness from the nutrient.
Cook Time: 20 Min. • Serves: 4 • Calories: 383 • Total Fat: 19 grams • Protein: 13 grams
This flavorful soup is a great treat any time of year! Its sweet and fresh taste redefines this typically average dish while chunks of tomatoes give it a hearty and filling appeal.
INGREDIENTS:
For the Deconstructed Salad Wedge: (Serves 4)
- 8 Cups Green Leaf lettuce, chopped
- 1 Beefsteak Tomato or 15-20 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- 1 Cup Red Onion, chopped
- 8 oz Fat Free Blue Cheese Dressing
Chunky Tomato Soup: (Serves 4)
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 3/4 teaspoon butter, divided
- 8 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 cup milk
INSTRUCTIONS:
For the Deconstructed Salad Wedge: (Serves 4)
- Chop the bacon into bits and cook it in a pan without any oil for about 7 minutes or until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and place it on a paper towel to absorbed the grease.
- Wash and dice the tomato and wash the green leaf lettuce and chop 8 cups of the lettuce into small pieces.
- Chop up the red onion and divide the lettuce into 4 portions, about 2 cups each.
- Top each salad with equal amounts of tomato, onion, bacon bits, and fat free blue cheese dressing.
Chunky Tomato Soup: (Serves 4)
- Place the red bell pepper in a large pot with 1/4 teaspoon butter, and cook, stirring constantly, until peppers are slightly charred. Mix in tomatoes, onion, garlic, and chicken broth. Season with salt, sugar, cloves, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil, and cook 20 minutes, until tomatoes are soft.
- Mix the milk and cornstarch in a small saucepan, and stir until smooth. Place saucepan over medium heat, and stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter. Continue to cook and stir until thickened. Mix into the pot with vegetables.
- Strain about 1/2 the vegetables from the soup and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth, and return to the pot. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and let sit about 5 minutes before serving.
ENJOY!
Look below for all the nutrition facts as well as a break down of the nutrition for all the ingredients!
Diabetic Friendly 
Low Fat| Ingredient | Linked To Nutritional Value | Cal | Fat | Carb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PER SERVING: | 383.3 | 18.5 | 41 | |
| 8 Cup lettuce | Lettuce, green leaf, fresh, shredded | 10.75 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 Slice bacon | Bacon, cured, raw, thick slices, 12/lb | 172.75 | 17 | 0.25 |
| 1 Cup red onion | Onion, red, fresh, chpd | 16 | 0 | 3.75 |
| 8 Ounce-weight blue cheese dressing | Salad Dressing, blue cheese, fat free | 65.25 | 0.5 | 14.5 |
| .5 Cup red bell pepper | Peppers, sweet, bell, red, fresh, chpd | 5.75 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 Teaspoon butter | Butter, unsalted | 8.5 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 Each tomatoes | Tomatoes, fresh, med | 56.25 | 0 | 11.25 |
| 1 Each onion | Onion, fresh, med | 11.25 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 Cup chicken broth | Broth, chicken, low sod (Pacific Natural Foods) | 7.5 | 0 | 0.5 |
| .25 Teaspoon ground cloves | Spice, clove, ground | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1.5 Teaspoon oregano | Herb, oregano, ground | 1.75 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 1.5 Teaspoon basil | Herb, basil, dried, ground | 1.25 | 0 | 0.25 |
| 1 Cup milk | Milk, nonfat/skim, w/add vit A & D (Darigold) | 22.5 | 0 | 3.25 |
| .5 Teaspoon sugar | Sugar, white, granulated | 2 | 0 | 0.5 |
| .8 Teaspoon salt | Salt, Kosher, coarse | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| .8 Teaspoon black pepper | Spice, pepper, black, dash | 1.25 | 0 | 0.25 |
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