There is something about soup....it's comforting. It's convenient. If you do it right - it only dirties one pan! It's warm (unless it's cold, but that's a post for July or August!). I own soup bowls that sit perfectly in the palm of my hand, hugged against my chest when I'm curled up in the big chair by the fireplace.
And yes, I know I live in Texas, but once you've lived here for a few years, 60 degrees IS cold enough to need a piping hot bowl of soup and a fire!
So, these past few weeks, I have been playing around with recipes from my old BP (before Paleo) binder to see if they could be modified and still be delicious. I have had great success with my chilis and my butternut squash soup, so I decided to have a go at a Cream of Broccoli Soup recipe that I got about 20 year ago from an amazing cook I took step aerobics with 'back in the day'!
I tried a couple of different combinations before it hit me - I should adopt the same elements that make my root vegetable mash so wonderfully yummy...parsnips and a teeny, tiny organic russet potato. (I call my cooking PaleoPlus primarily because I am not opposed to using the occasional russet...I have teenagers who will eat cauliflower and rutabagas and sweet potatoes if I toss in just a smidge of regular potato (and I mean a smidge...just a taste makes all the difference and I don't use it in everything)! Besides, I have a long, personal relationship with the lowly potato...we're not ready to break up just yet!)
Success!
My first screaming success pot of this soup made over 3 gallons... and most of you won't ever want to make over 3 gallons of soup, no matter how big your freezer! So today, I broke it down into a regular pot of soup (it makes just over 2 quarts, so nice big bowls for a family of four with a bit left over for lunch the next day), measured the heck out of every ingredient and wrote it down so I could share it...here is the recipe...
"Cream" of Broccoli Soup (non-dairy)
Ingredients
2 pounds of broccoli (I bought crowns)
1 medium to large parsnip, peeled and sliced
1 small organic russet potato, peeled and cubed
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large leek, sliced/washed - the white and light green parts
4 cups of chicken stock or bone broth (homemade is best!)
1 can of full-fat coconut milk
1 T avocado oil
2 T of ghee
Salt and Pepper
Wash all your veggies and chop them up. I sliced the stems of the broccoli in 1/4" - 1/3" slices and separated them from the tops (which I chopped). I cut the leeks down the middle and then sliced them into 1/4"-1/3" slices, using only the white and light green parts. I peeled and cubed the potato and sliced the parsnips and minced the garlic cloves.
In a large dutch oven/pot over medium low heat, add the avocado oil and 1 T of the ghee. Once the ghee has melted, add the parsnip, leeks, broccoli stems and the potato, salting liberally with sea salt, and sweat them for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until they soften. Add the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the broccoli tops and stir everything together. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock and coconut milk and combine. Turn up the heat to medium high and bring to a boil. As soon as the soup starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
Use an immersion blender to blend all the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Taste for seasoning and stir in the last T of ghee for richness.
If I hadn't made it myself, I would never know there wasn't any cream in this soup. The parsnip and the tiny potato work magic in making this into a homey, velvety cream soup without the dairy (and for me - all the problems that come with eating dairy!)
From start to finish, this soup takes an hour and uses one pot, a good knife, a cutting board, an immersion blender...and a lot of spoons! Enjoy!
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