Breathe Magazine

Gotta have a hearty winter soup for these snow capped days. Recently, I discovered a wonderful recipe for broccoli cheese soup that’s easy to make in a pinch. All you need are a few ingredients and an immersion hand blender and you are ready to go.

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen broccoli crowns

1/4 -1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 russet potato peeled and chopped into small, quarter sized pieces

veggie broth

1/4 cup chopped onion

salt and pepper

Directions: In a large pot on the stove, heat olive oil and then throw in chopped onions and let cook until translucent. Then toss in the potatoes and let cook for a few min, until slightly tender. Next, add frozen broccoli and enough veggie broth to cover all the veggies in pot. Add salt and pepper and to taste, cover and bring to a boil. Let simmer uncovered until all veggies are cooked and potatoes are tender. Turn off heat. Use immersion blender to blend all ingredients together in the pot until smooth. Once smooth, add in cheese and blend again. Feel free to add a spash of milk or even beer for more pizzaz. Serve hot and top with mustard croutons if you like.

*To make croutons: Use good bread (like a french bagette) and cut it into small, crouton-sized pieces. Toss in olive oil and a good, whole grain mustard. Bake in the oven at 350 for approx 10 minutes until crispy. Serve atop the soup.