Vegetarian Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Yes, the happy kitty bowl was happy again tonight. :)

I love broccoli. I think I'm the only one in the house who does. When I was a kid, I used to have fantasies of riding my pet triceratops, Spike, through the world sharing broccoli and having adventures. So when I saw a big honking bag of broccoli for a buck on the "yesterday's produce" rack, I figured it was time to try to make some soup and have another go with the immersion blender. I don't understand why people use chicken stock to broccoli soup. So, I made a vegetarian version so that I could share it with my imaginary dinosaur pal.


Ingredients:

4 cups uncooked Broccoli florets
1 cup sweet onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
½ mushrooms, sliced
2 ½ cups Veggie Broth
1 cup white wine
¼ cup milk/cream
½ cup cheddar (shredded)
2 tsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Herbs de Provence to taste

In a stock pot, sauté the veggies in olive oil until they start to soften. Add the broth and wine, season with salt, pepper and herbs and bring to a boil until the veggies are soft. Stick an immersion blender in there and blend until smooth.

(If you aren't using an immersion blender: Transfer the veggies and half of the liquid into a blender of food processor and puree until smooth. Pour in the rest of liquid, continuing to blend until smooth.)

Pour the mix through a colander and return to pot. Stir in cream and cheese until cheese melts and serve.

I used heavy cream, so this was 7 points for a 1 cup serving. If you want to reduce the points value, then substitute lower fat milk for the heavy cream.

I know my happy kitty bowl was happy tonight and I imagine Spike would have been too.