Good soup

Broccoli-Ham Soup
Better Homes and Gardens Eating Light Copyright 1985

¼ cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons instant chicken bouillon granules
1 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups water
2 cups broccoli flowerets or frozen cut broccoli I used frozen
1 ½ cups cubed fully cooked ham I used turkey ham

In a 3-quart saucepan cook the chopped onion in butter or margarine till tender but not brown. Stir in flour, chicken bouillon granules, mustard, thyme and pepper. Add milk and water all at once. Cook and stir over medium-high heat till thickened and bubbly.

Stir in fresh broccoli flowerets or frozen cut broccoli and cubed ham into saucepan. Return to boiling. Reduce heat, simmer for 4 to 6 minutes more or till broccoli is tender and the soup is heated through, stirring occasionally.

Makes 4 servings.

This soup wins for great taste and ease of preparation. I made it ahead of time, so I could take it for lunch, and it worked out very well. It had a good consistency and surprisingly good flavor. I liked that this is basically a pantry recipe - the ingredients are usually on hand, at least in my house. Even ham freezes great and I usually have some in the freezer.

'Light' isn't very well defined in this cookbook. It does discuss poaching, steaming, broiling and other less caloric cooking methods but it doesn't include nutritional information. 'Light' cookbooks usually disappoint me but because this one wasn't working under the constraints of calories or fat grams, it might have a few more recipes worth trying in there. I'll have to take a closer look.