Dreamy Broccoli Soup

It's Friday the 13th and San Diego is in rare form.  It's cold, rainy, and occasionally a rumble of thunder can be heard rolling through the canyons.  Where's the sun??  Why isn't it 72 like it always is? Now, I don't mind the change in weather but this is throwing me off! In the year 2012 we will experience three Friday the 13ths and eerily enough, they are evenly spaced 13 weeks apart! I'm not necessarily superstitious, but I kinda hope for something that will break the monotony.  Do you know what I mean? For instance, I wish magic was real and secretly, I hope that the Mayans are correct and that there will be some huge change at the end of this year. Not total destruction or anything but something to spice things up a bit! The stormy weather, while spooky and exciting especially on a Friday the 13th, is getting my creative juices flowing. It's cold, so I think I'll make a comforting, creamy soup for dinner tonight.

Being a trained cook, I really enjoy the challenge of making dishes that are not vegan (or healthy) into plant-based, nutritious delights. One of my favorite soups was Broccoli Cheddar soup.  I used to crave the stuff!! Especially with a nice soft roll, that was my lunch of choice! But instead of using cream and cheese I used cashew cream, a great substitute for heavy creams in recipes, and nutritional yeast. Let me explain what each one is.

Cashew Cream: often used in vegan cooking, is a wonderful replacement for milk and creams in most recipes. It can be thick or thin and what's great is that it's very easy to make. 

1. Take raw cashews and soak them over night or for at least 4-8 hours. 

2. Then drain and rinse the cashews and place them in a blender, preferably a Vitamix Blender.

3. Add enough water, about 1 inch above the cashews and blend on high for a couple minutes until super smooth and creamy.  

If you do not have a Vitamix Blender (you can find them for fairly cheap in stores at Costco, call your local stores for info, I swear I do not work for them) do not fear! You can use a cheese cloth or even nylons (clean please!) to strain the cream to make sure it is completely smooth. Vitamix blenders are so powerful that straining isn't necessary.  It's that easy to make, you can adjust the thickness of the cream by how much water you add in the blender.  Less water is very creamy and more water is...you guessed it, thinner! Or you could just make a thicker batch and add water after blending to thin it out. Simple, right?  

Nutritional Yeast: Such a strange name! It is a deactivated yeast, that is flaky and yellow in color. It has a very nutty and cheesy flavor and is used to mimic cheese in vegan recipes.  In fact, nutritional yeast is nutritious, it contains 18 amino acids making it a complete protein. It also contains 15 minerals and is rich in B-complex vitamins and is also an excellent source of folic acid. Make sure to select a non-GMO nutritional yeast that is fortified with vitamin B12 for the best nutritional value. You can find it online or in the bulk section of a health food store. Stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts carry it.

Dreamy Broccoli Soup

Makes 3-4 servings

Can I just say, I could not have been happier with this soup. I wouldn't change a thing! The carrots and nutritional yeast give it the beautiful color, the potato and cashew cream give it a great mouth feel and the flavor of the wine is to die for!  This soup has cured my Broccoli Cheddar soup cravings!

Ingredients:

2 Heads of broccoli cut into small pieces (just the tops, save the stems for smoothies) 

1 medium potato medium diced

1/2 large onion small diced

2 carrots small diced

4 cloves of garlic minced (or more if you love it)

1 cup of cashew cream (directions above)

1 1/2 cups of white wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc but a dry white wine works well)

1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock (I used Organic Imagine No-Chicken Broth)

1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

2-3 tbsp parsley minced 

2 stems of rosemary minced

1 tbsp of oregano minced  

1/2 tbsp of Sea Salt 

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Olive oil

Directions:

1. Make cashew cream (directions above). You will need 4-8 hours to soak the cashews.

2. In a large pot saute potatoes, onions and carrots in 2-3 tbsp of oil olive until softened about 5-7 minutes.  Add garlic and rosemary and cook for another minute. 

3. In a separate pot add enough water to steam/cook the broccoli until soft about 5-6 minutes. Then strain and set aside.

4. Deglaze the pan with the white wine scraping up any bits of the vegetables that are stuck to the bottom of the pan and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the vegetable stock and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

5. Transfer the contents of the large pot into a blender.  Be careful, because it's hot, duh! You might want to use a cloth to hold the lid of the blender down. Blend on high until it is smooth.  

6. Then add the cashew cream to the blender and combine the two.  Transfer the creamy base to the soup back into the large pot on a medium heat.

7. Add the nutritional yeast, 1/2 tbsp of sea salt and pepper.  Taste for seasoning and adjust to how you like it.

8. Add the cooked broccoli, parsley and oregano and heat through, just another minute or so.  Then serve! Toasted bread goes very nicely with this soup. 

So, the next time it's raining or you just need a cheesy fix without eating the cheese, this soup will do just the trick.


Enjoy!
With much love,
K