Broccoli Soup

When I'm craving comfort food, but wanting to avoid consuming loads of calories, broccoli soup is my go-to recipe.  It's hearty, but balanced, and extremely healthy.

I prefer the recipe from Williams-Sonoma's website because of how quick and easy it is.  I use the basic instructions for the recipe and tweak it a bit.  For example, I had some extra zucchini in the refrigerator, and decided to add that.  I also used onions instead of leeks.  It's easy peasy.  Just use what you have on hand.

Broccoli Soup adapted from Williams-Sonoma


Ingredients:

• 2 heads of broccoli, roughly chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 TBS olive oil, plus more
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• sour cream, for garnish
• cheddar cheese, for garnish
• salt and pepper, to taste

1.  In a large pot, add 2 TBS olive oil.  Over low heat, saute onions for about two minutes.  Add broccoli, zucchini and garlic, adding more oil, if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes.  

2.  Add 4 cups of chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Keep slightly covered, cooking until vegetables are tender.  This takes about 20 minutes.

3.  Using an emulsion blender or food processor (or a plain old blender, in my case), puree soup until smooth.  Only puree small amounts at a time.  Hot liquids and blenders can explode.  No fun. 

4.  Once the entire soup has been pureed, ladle into bowls and garnish with sour cream and grated Cheddar.

Sometimes when sauteing the vegetables, I add white wine and let that reduce before adding the stock.  It adds a really nice flavor.

The whole meal takes less than thirty minutes to prepare and it tastes so good.  Broccoli and cheese? Yes, I think so.