creamy broccoli soup

Broccoli soup is the perfect comfort food during a cold spell. It's also as (un)healthy as you want to make it, depending on the toppings you add. The actual soup itself couldn't be easier, as most vegetable-cream soups follow the same premise: cook vegetables in stock, add cream, blend with immersion blender, serve. This recipe that I found on Food Network is perfect. If you want to slim it down, substitute whole milk or half-and-half for the heavy cream, and of course use less than the 1/2 pound of cheddar pictured above.

Grocery list: 4 T butter, 1.5 pounds fresh broccoli, 1 large onion, 1 carrot (note, I skipped the carrot since I used the last ones for my stock), 3 T flour, 4 c chicken stock, 1/2 c cream.



Over medium-high heat, melt the butter in a large soup pot. Chop the vegetables, then saute them until the onions are translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.



Sprinkle the flour over the vegetable base, stir and cook for a couple minutes, until the flour starts to turn golden brown.



Pour in the chicken stock (one quart box of the pre-made kind, or make your own), and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat until the broccoli is tender, another 15-20 minutes.



Stir the cream into the soup.



Puree the soup with an immersion blender, then do a taste check, adding more salt and/or pepper if necessary. Serve with grated cheddar cheese (and/or bacon, croutons, crackers, etc).