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One of my favorite soups at Panera, is their broccoli cheese soup. Some days, usually in the winter, I like to indulge in a bowl of Panera’s broccoli cheese soup … in a bread bowl. And yes, I eat the whole bread bowl too. Unfortunately, those indulgences lead to the small needle on my scale tipping in the wrong direction the next morning. But every woman should indulge in food, every once in a while. I try to keep from ordering the bread bowl unless it’s a serious emergency. And by emergency, I mean having the bread bowl rather than eating practically everything with carbs at home. Who’s to say I don’t balance everything out by having lettuce for dinner, or foregoing dinner altogether.
There are a few kitchen experiments I play to tackle during my time as house wife (and future house mom) one of them is desserts, and the other is soup. I’m still working on my lentil soup which isn’t turning out anywhere near my mom’s. Mom is amazing when it comes to soup. Some of my favorites include squash soup, corn and scallop soup and salmon soup. So when I made broccoli cheese, I was happy to announce that it turned out really good. Well, except for the fact that I totally forgot to add salt.
Adapted from Pham Fatale
Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
Ingredients
1 pound fresh Broccoli Florets 1 tablespoon Olive Oil 1 Onion, chopped 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup Vegetable Broth Nutmeg, to taste Garlic Powder, to taste Dried Thyme, to taste Salt, to taste Black Pepper, to taste 4 oz Mild Cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded 1/2 cup heavy creamDirections
In a small pot, heat the oil. Add the onions and cook until golden. Remove onto a plate and set aside. In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low. Once melted, bring the heat back up to medium-high and add the flour. Keep stirring until the flour absorbes te butter and turns into a paste. Add the vegetable broth slowly. Increase heat while stirring. Add the cheddar cheese and allow the cheese to melt. Add nutmeg, garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper. Put the cheese mixture aside. Bring 2 cups of water to boil with the onions. Add the broccoli florets and let boil until the broccoli is tender. Add the cheese mixture. Using a hand blender, blend the broccoli and cheese until desired thickness. Bring to a boil then add the heavy cream.Servings: 2-3
Nutrition Information: Cals 354. Carbs 16g. Fat 30g. Sodium 461mg.