Every Sunday I make a big batch of soup and portion it in the freezer for my lunches for the week. I love soup since you can fit so many fruits & veggies into them, they fill you up, and they are warm and comforting. You can imagine how excited I was when I found The Soup Chick website. This site houses a collection of the best soups and stews found on the web - fantastic! I have been copying out recipes daily and tweaking them to my liking; I can't wait to try them all. For this one, the apple lends a slight sweetness to the soup but isn't overpowering, so don't be turned off by the ingredients. I have the original recipe below, as well as I what I did to change it. Enjoy!
Broccoli & Apple Soup
1 T EVOO
1 T butter (I left this out)
1 onion chopped (I did 2 red onions, it's all I had on hand)
2 apples chopped (I used Royal Gala)
1 medium bunch of broccoli, ends of stems removed & remainder chopped (I used 4 small bunches)
1 quart chicken or veg stock (I used homemade stock...see notes below)
zest of 1 lemon (I left this out but I bet it would have been fantastic)
1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
sliced almonds (I left these out)
I also added chipotle powder, onion powder, garlic powder and a pinch of cayenne. I like heat, and the chipotle powder gave it a great smoky flavor
Heat oil and butter over medium heat & add onion. Cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in apples and broccoli and cook 1 minute. Add stock and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer 20 minutes (I didn't lower the heat because I had used so much broccoli and wanted to be sure they got very soft). Stir in zest, salt & pepper. Remove from heat and set aside 5 minutes. Toast almonds in a dry pan. Puree soup with immersion blender and top with almonds to serve.
For the BEST stocks EVER.....
Call me crazy but I'm a pretty frugal person and I love love love finding ways to save in the kitchen. I always have homemade stock in the freezer and you can too, by using your scraps! Every time I cut or peel a fruit or veggie, I throw the scraps in an accumulating large ziploc bag and keep it in the freezer. The same thing goes for meat bones & carcasses. When the bag gets full, I throw it all into a soup pot, peels and all, and boil it for about an hour. I than strain it off, and voila! What's left is a nutrient-dense homemade stock made from everything you would have thrown out anyways. I use the stock to boil my cauliflower for my infamous mashed cauliflower, I used it to saute veggies, to flavor rice water...you can use it in so many places to sub in for fat when cooking, the possibilities are endless! I usually keep my bones/meat scraps separate from veggies in case I want to make a strictly vegetarian stock, but feel free to mix them up in your own home. You will never waste your money buying pre-made, sodium-filled stock again, promise!
Broccoli & Apple Soup
1 T EVOO
1 T butter (I left this out)
1 onion chopped (I did 2 red onions, it's all I had on hand)
2 apples chopped (I used Royal Gala)
1 medium bunch of broccoli, ends of stems removed & remainder chopped (I used 4 small bunches)
1 quart chicken or veg stock (I used homemade stock...see notes below)
zest of 1 lemon (I left this out but I bet it would have been fantastic)
1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
sliced almonds (I left these out)
I also added chipotle powder, onion powder, garlic powder and a pinch of cayenne. I like heat, and the chipotle powder gave it a great smoky flavor
Heat oil and butter over medium heat & add onion. Cook 1-2 minutes. Stir in apples and broccoli and cook 1 minute. Add stock and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer 20 minutes (I didn't lower the heat because I had used so much broccoli and wanted to be sure they got very soft). Stir in zest, salt & pepper. Remove from heat and set aside 5 minutes. Toast almonds in a dry pan. Puree soup with immersion blender and top with almonds to serve.
For the BEST stocks EVER.....
Call me crazy but I'm a pretty frugal person and I love love love finding ways to save in the kitchen. I always have homemade stock in the freezer and you can too, by using your scraps! Every time I cut or peel a fruit or veggie, I throw the scraps in an accumulating large ziploc bag and keep it in the freezer. The same thing goes for meat bones & carcasses. When the bag gets full, I throw it all into a soup pot, peels and all, and boil it for about an hour. I than strain it off, and voila! What's left is a nutrient-dense homemade stock made from everything you would have thrown out anyways. I use the stock to boil my cauliflower for my infamous mashed cauliflower, I used it to saute veggies, to flavor rice water...you can use it in so many places to sub in for fat when cooking, the possibilities are endless! I usually keep my bones/meat scraps separate from veggies in case I want to make a strictly vegetarian stock, but feel free to mix them up in your own home. You will never waste your money buying pre-made, sodium-filled stock again, promise!
My goodness, that soup looks so healthy and sounds delicious. I just made a copy of your recipe and will probably try it out either this coming weekend or next weekend. One question though, what is evoo? I've never heard of that ingredient before. Also, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSorry - it's Extra Virgin Olive Oil - I use EVOO for short; hope you enjoyed it!!
ReplyDelete