Recipe: Creamy Broccoli Soup
- The Honest Project
- Oct 5, 2015
- 2 min read
I have long been a fan of broccoli and would even label it as an 'everyday superfood'. I have written before about the benefits of broccoli and about how I try to incorporate a serving of broccoli into my diet most days (click here to read this blog post). I am just finished a detox weekend and wanted to try and keep some elements of the detox going, now that I am home. For dinner this evening, I decided to make a creamy broccoli soup. This isn't the most filling dinner, but this is perfect for me today as I try to get back into my usual eating pattern after the detox. On a normal day, it would work really well as a starter or as a light lunch.
The American Institute for Cancer Research says that eating broccoli may help prevent cancer, but its effectiveness is linked to how it is cooked. I avoid boiling cauliflower and instead lightly steam it for 3 to 5 minutes max. For this soup I steam the broccoli and then add it to the stock once the stock has boiled and has been removed from the heat and hopefully this works to preserve as much enzymes as possible.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic
6 cups of vegetable stock
1 head of broccoli
Half a cup of cashew nuts
3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
Sea salt and black pepper
Half a lemon
Handful of sprouts (of your choice)
Method:
1. Soak the cashews in hot water for at least an hour. Drain and rinse.
2. Heat the coconut oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil and then remove from the heat.
4. Meanwhile steam the broccoli in a separate steamer for 4 minutes maximum.
4. Add the steamed broccoli, cashews and nutritional yeast to the saucepan with the stock. Using a hand held blender, blend the soup until smooth*.
5. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
6. To serve, pour the soup into bowls and sprinkle some sprouts on top.
*As the broccoli is only lightly steamed it is very al dente when added to the stock so it takes a little more time and work than normal to blend it into a soup.
