Tuscan Tomato Soup &
Croque Monsieur

This is a good twist to the infamous tomato soup and grilled cheese. The Croque Monsieur is a French style ham and cheese, which is a little like the Monte Cristo. It's dipped in an egg batter then cooked in a skillet.
I got these recipes from Cooking Light, but I changed them up a bit. I omitted the croutons for the soup since we were having a sandwich, and I added an onion to the soup to give it some more flavor. I didn't have a loaf of french bread for the sandwiches, so I just used some Italian bread. The nutritional information at the bottom is for the original recipe from Cooking Light. My changes will be in red.

Tuscan Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups (1-inch) cubes French bread (about 2 1/2 (1-ounce) slices)
Olive oil-flavored cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup onion, diced (one small onion)
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chicken broth, undiluted (such as Swanson's)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
5 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.
Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Lightly coat bread with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until dry and toasted. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion & garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and next 5 ingredients (tomatoes through pepper); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. I like my tomato soup smooth, so I used an immersion blender to puree the soup.
Divide 2 1/2 cups croutons among 5 bowls; ladle 1 cup soup over croutons, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cheese.

Yield: 5 servings
CALORIES 108(19% from fat); FAT 2.3g (sat 0.7g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 5.2g; CHOLESTEROL 2mg; CALCIUM 97mg; SODIUM 397mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 16.9g


Croque Monsieur

Ingredients:
4 (1 1/2-ounce) slices French bread
4 teaspoons honey mustard
6 ounces reduced-fat deli ham, thinly sliced
4 (1-ounce) slices reduced-fat Swiss cheese
1/2 cup fat-free milk
3 large egg whites
Cooking spray



Directions:

Cut a slit in each bread slice to form a pocket. Spread 1 teaspoon honey mustard into each bread pocket. Divide ham and cheese evenly among bread pockets.
Combine milk and egg whites in a shallow bowl, stirring with a whisk. Dip sandwiches, 1 at a time, in milk mixture, turning to coat.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add 2 sandwiches; cook 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat procedure with remaining sandwiches.

Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 293(30% from fat); FAT 9.8g (sat 5.2g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 22.3g; CHOLESTEROL 40mg; CALCIUM 475mg; SODIUM 649mg; FIBER 1.3g; IRON 1.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 27.9g