Healthy Cream of Broccoli Soup

For some reason, whenever I make a small amount of a soup, I always tell myself I should have made a big batch of it to freeze some for later. But whenever I make a big batch of soup, I always get carried away and end up adding too much salt, too much cayenne pepper, etc. In fact, a few years ago I decided to not even cook with cayenne pepper anymore because I was so frustrated that I had to throw out a huge pot of would-have-been delicious soup all because it was way too peppery for me and my husband. I was pregnant at the time and had horrible morning sickness, but I still can´t stomach the idea of adding cayenne pepper to our food.

So anyway, tonight I tried a different kind of soup. Broccoli soup. Cream of broccoli soup. It was super easy, fast, and did not require blending in a blender. It´s also packed with broccoli (ha! who could have guessed?), which has some awesome nutritional benefits. We ate our soup with a toasted and buttered English Muffin, and it was delicious!

Cream of Broccoli Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2+3 (5 total) Tbsp. butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1-2 stalks celery, chopped
• 8-9 C. chopped broccoli (I used the florets, stems, and even the leaves of 3 bunches of broccoli)
• 4 1/2 C. chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 C. milk
• ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter in a medium-sized pot on medium heat. Saute the onion and celery until tender.
2. Add chopped broccoli and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and turn heat to a simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Use a potato masher to mash the broccoli (don´t get too carried away— some chunks are good!)
4. Remove soup from heat. In a smaller pot, melt the remaining 3 Tbsp. of butter over low-medium heat. Stir in flour. Then stir in the milk. Stir frequently and turn heat up until it reaches a boil. Let boil (keep stirring) for about 1 minute or until the milk starts to thicken. Pour this mixture into the broccoli soup and stir.
5. Add black pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

*Inspired by THIS recipe.