Cream of Broccoli Soup

With the freezing cold weather we've been  having, I've been craving soup, but completely uninspired by my regular soup recipes.   I was looking for something new, and came across a cream of broccoli soup recipe from Healthful Pursuit.  A friend of mine had made this the night before, and had quite a few notes about what she didn't like, so I took this into account and recreated a soup that is creamy, healthy, and delicious.


The results?

I thought it was delicious and totally hit the spot for a cream based soup. I may have prefered it be a tiny bit thicker, but the flavoring was great.  My husband loved it as is. And my 15 month old seemed to think it was just ok.

What you need:

8 - 10 cups Liquid Base (Water, Veggie Broth, or Combination)
2 onions, chopped
20 cloves garlic, chopped (Doesn't taste "garlicy"; provides good flavor and health benefits without the sodium)
1 head cauliflower, chopped or broken
2 - 3 medium russet potatoes peeled and chopped (Or use another head of cauliflower - I didn't have one on hand so used potatoes to create a thicker base)
1 cup raw cashews
4 cups or 4 small heads broccoli
Salt and Pepper to taste

What you do:

1.  In a large pot, saute onions and garlic with a small amount of the liquid until translucent. (Make sure there is enough liquid so onions and garlic don't stick).

2.  Add remaining liquid, cauliflower, and potatoes and cook until tender (If you are in a hurry, keep on higher heat, stirring often.  If you can't be watching it, heat on low and you can walk away and come back anytime).

Potatoes and Cauliflower cooking in broth

3.  Use an immersion blender, potato masher, or blender to blend vegetables until smooth.

4.  Remove 2 - 3 cups and combine with cashews in a high speed blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour back into the soup pot and stir until combined.

Ready to blend

Blended with Cashews

5.  Add chopped broccoli and cook on low until ready to eat.

6.  Salt and pepper to taste. Makes roughly 12 large servings.

Notes:

You don't taste cauliflower or potatoes.  The soup is very creamy and flavorful (because of the onions and garlic).  I kept my broccoli pieces fairly large, and I think they would have been better as tiny pieces.  You can also add 1 - 2 Tbsp of nutritional yeast if you have on hand to boost your Vitamin B12, and give more of a "cheesy" flavor.

This is also a great cream based soup to create any of your favorite "Cream Ofs...", such as mushroom, onion, asparagus, etc.

Great with a salad or this crusty artisan bread. (Click here for recipe)

Crusty Artisan Loaf

The nutrition info provided is for 1 large serving (a full bowl of soup) not small 1/2 cup servings that is impossible to be full by and is completely impractical.  

Enjoy!

Nutrition Info Per Serving (2 Cups):

Calories: 186

Fat: 8 g

Saturated Fat: 1.5 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 32 mg

Carbohydrates: 32 g

Fiber: 4 g

Sugars: 3.8 g

Protein: 7 g

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