Soup and Sandwich Night

What a strange week this has been. The weather was extremely hot for most of the week and then the great blackout occurred on Thursday night. We spent the evening sitting out in our driveway visiting with neighbors and listening to the car radio of updates. Thank goodness the weather changed that evening and the temp dropped about 25 degrees. The electricity is back on and the weather is in the low 70's. I'm having a 3 day weekend and I'm ready to cook so let's have soup and sammi's for dinner. Tonight it's Cream of Broccoli Soup(a light version) and Chicken Cheddar Melts.

Cream of Broccoli Soup
Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion diced
salt and pepper to taste
6 cups chicken stock
1 large head of broccoli, peeled and trimmed and roughly chopped(about 3 pounds)
1 large baking potato,peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup fat free half and half
1/4 cup lemon juice

In a large sauce pan heat the oil over med/high heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft about 5 min

utes. Add the broth, broccoli, potato. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until the broccoli and potato are tender. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender(fill it no more than half full) and return to the pot. Stir in the half and half and lemon juice. Adjust the seasoning one more time.

Chicken Cheddar Melts
Serves 4

!/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 cloves of garlic chopped
salt and pepper to taste
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, split horizontally
1 large loaf of bakery bread split horizontally and cut in half
4 ozs of thinly sliced deli ham
1/4 cup apricot perserves
4 ozs of white cheddar cheese grated(about 1 cup)

Heat broiler with a rack set about 4 inches from heat. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
In a small bowl mix together the vinegar, mustard, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place it in a zip lock bag and add the chicken breasts. Marinate for about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the baking sheet. Broil with out turning for about 4-6 minutes. Transfer to a work surface and discard pan juices from the baking sheet. Place bread pieces on the baking sheet. Spread apricot perserves onto each piece of bread. and layer with chicken, ham and then the cheese. Broil for about 4-6 minutes more until the cheese is melted.