... and 40 lbs of grief weight.
Over the last two years, as our former-micro-preemie-now-thriving-5-year-old has grown, our family is back to a healthy exercise and eating regime. YAY for us! But the vagaries of menopause isn't letting our return to normalcy help me get back into shape. But, enough about me.
Yesterday I discovered a favorite dish CAN be made in an extremely healthy and yet still delightfully delicious. Broccoli Cheddar Soup. *WHEW*
The premise of this adjustment switches the roles of cheese and veg. By cooking an extremely large amount of broccoli, pureeing it and then adding a very small amount of VERY tasty cheese - one achieves the quest of delicious and healthy in one bowl.
Here's what I did (with respectful acknowledgment to Alice Waters and Cook's Illustrated)
1) Melted 2 tablespoons of ghee in a large, solid bottomed pan.
2) Sauteed one chopped medium onion and three cloves or chopped garlic until translucent.
3) Add 2 lbs of chopped broccoli - diced, peeled stems included. (Beauty of this is you use the ENTIRE broccoli head!)
4) Add 1.5 tbs of dry mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
5) Add one cup of water. Bring to boil, then reduce to low or medium low.
a) Let broccoli simmer for an hour. Yes, you read that right - an hour. There is a short cut method of using baking soda and it cooks down in 20 minutes, but I didn't try that so I can't tell you how this works.
b) The broccoli becomes so incredibly soft and *sigh* gray. (COLOR, I need COLOR!)
c) If during the broccoli cooking time it begins to get dry, add 1 cup of broth (I used chicken, but vegetable or even beef would work fine.)
6) Add 2-3 cups of more broth and bring soup to a boil. Then reduce to medium and let simmer for 20 minutes.
7) Add 2-3 oz of raw baby spinach. (Remember my color predicament? And with added nutrition, who can argue!)
8) Add 3 oz of grated sharp cheddar cheese.
9) Add 1.5 oz of Parmesan cheese.
10) Let everything heat up and melt and you're done! (Test for seasoning. I didn't need any more.)
NOTE: I had about 3 oz of cooked carrots in the fridge and added them to the soup mix. It didn't add any color or taste, but used up "what's in the fridge" and some nutrition. WIN!
Now, use your blender (hand held is easiest, or use your countertop blender and puree the soup in two batches) until you have a nice thick puree.
Soup's done!
The soup was delicious. You could taste the vegetable and more importantly, you could taste the cheese. Quite a hit to the taste buds, but unfortunately, not a feast for the eyes. The gray broccoli, while nutty and mellow in flavor was a dreary gray. The addition of spinach helped add some green and some texture, but not enough to allow for a magazine cover finish.
(What's in the fridge? A quart of leftover broccoli and cheddar soup of course.)
Blessed be,
Maria