I Heart Broccoli
I’m a fan of broccoli. My favorite way to have it is steamed with a little bit of butter and salt. It’s so simple and delicious. The only problem with it is that it gets cold really fast. Whenever we make it as a dinner side, as soon as I add the butter and salt, I tell Justin, “Come on, we have to eat now! The broccoli is getting cold!” By the time I get to my third broccoli spear, sadly, it’s already cold.
So this hot soup recipe is a nice alternative to cold broccoli. It’s thick and cheesy, thanks to the raw cream and cheddar stirred in at the end.
I used some broccoli leaves in this soup. The head of broccoli I received from the food co-op still had quite a bit of leafy greens on it, so I threw them in with the soup. The following week I received only broccoli leaves with no spears. I made the soup again, and the leaves worked just as well as regular broccoli. You could also use cauliflower instead, or you could do a combination of broccoli and cauliflower and swap out the carrots and celery. The sky’s the limit with this hearty soup. Give it a try!
Hearty Broccoli Soup
Makes 4 servings
2 cups diced potatoes
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 cup minced celery
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups vegetable broth
2 cups chopped broccoli and/or broccoli leaves
1/4 cup raw cream
1 cup grated sharp raw cheddar cheese
salt
pepper
Cook together potatoes, onion, carrots, and celery in butter over medium heat for 5 minutes until soft. Add vegetable broth, broccoli, salt, and pepper and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until broccoli is tender, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in heavy cream and cheddar.
