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Bon Appetit - Just Plain Good Food

Best Broccoli Soup Ever

Published October 1st, 2013 in Bon Appetit - Just Plain Good Food, HN4U Blog

My son has been told ever since he was a little boy – “you better learn to cook, because the likelihood of finding a girl to cook for you is slim.” Personally, I think everyone needs to learn to cook regardless of age or sex. Too many times I have met elderly men who eat out almost every day compounding their health challenges because they had no one else to cook for them or to eat with.

I have couples come in and the wife will say to me, “when he retires I’ll teach him to cook”….I usually look her in the eye and say, “don’t wait, do it now so you know he can cook a decent meal for you if he needs to.”

In our household growing up, my mother did the daily cooking, except breakfast was always dads job. My dad often times cooked on the weekends, he had worked in the mess hall when in the army, and was comfortable in the kitchen. Dad is who I learned the importance of keeping my knives sharp and the proper care of cast iron pans from. Today following the family tradition, my husband can whip up the best buttermilk biscuits and many other dishes for breakfast or dinner. It is great because I haven’t had to make biscuits for years.

Now back to my son… This year our son has taken to watching Chef Ramsey on TV. Mostly it was to see all the shenanigans, and now it is because he is developing an interest in cooking real food. After two years of eating like everyone else, he doesn’t like how he has gained weight and feels, recently he found himself hungry for “broccoli”. When he shared this with me, I about choked on my tea. He has never been one to eat broccoli.

Now I know there is no single food as good for you as broccoli when it comes to cancer prevention, and health. But like many, broccoli may not be the first vegetable we pick for our plate. Some complain about the bitter taste; the bitter taste is caused by the beneficial nutrients and compounds found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables.

Last weekend the Son came home with a bag of organic broccoli and informed us, he was making broccoli soup…My husband’s face blanched – after all he was scarred by green things as a child. I inwardly grimaced as flashes of cheese and creamed broccoli soups came to mind. I have never understood the need to drowned vegetables in cream, and cheese.

Our son reassured us, he knew what he was doing and that it would be the best broccoli soup we had ever had. And You know what, he was right. Not only was it the best it was the easiest and most economical dish I have ever encountered. So here it is for you to try too.

Oh So Easy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

  • 8 cups chopped organic broccoli – about 2-3 inch in size so they fit in to a food processor easily (trim off the tough portions of the stems)
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 teaspoons Celtic sea salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil

Place broccoli, salt and water into a sauce or soup pan, bring to a boil, turn heat down and stir broccoli in the water to make sure it is covered well. Cook broccoli till tender but still bright green in color.

Transfer tender broccoli to your food processor, add water from pan while blending through pour spout. Add only enough to make a medium thick soup consistency.

Place in bowels, grind fresh pepper on top, and add a few drops of olive oil.

Serve hot, with warm biscuits or fresh sour dough bread and Irish butter.

Cook and prep time 15min

Serves 4

To Simple and Tasty Foods.