Broccoli is one word I can never spell correctly! I always want to do one ‘c’ and two ‘l’s. Just because I can’t spell it doesn’t mean I don’t like to eat it though! It’s one of my favorite vegetables. I remember craving it when I was pregnant. And even when I was at a stage where I couldn’t eat cooked vegetables (they all had to be raw – my poor husband!) I still liked cooked broccoli.

I found myself with a nearly bare fridge one night and dinner rapidly approaching. I had just cleaned out the vegetable drawer which was in a distinctly non-Martha state – lots of rotten things hiding at the bottom.  There wasn’t much to choose from once the purge was over, so I turned to Martha for inspiration.  I got out Martha Stewart’s Cooking School cookbook and looked up every remaining vegetable I had left in the index, hoping for a brilliant idea. I hit the jackpot with broccoli.

I remember when the book came out and Martha did a segment on her show about cream soups that actually had no cream in them. Seemed a bit odd to me, but I never got around to trying it. The time was right.

Martha says to cook onions in butter then add flour and cook briefly. Add chicken broth and cook to a boil. This did make a very nicely thickened soup base that was very creamy looking. Next you add your broccoli to the soup and cook it in the soup, then use a hand blender to puree it.

This is totally different from how I’ve made broccoli soup in the past. I usually steam the broccoli then chop it up in the Cuisinart and add it to the soup. I like Martha’s method better for sure.

I did add some cream at the end (Martha said it was optional). I also felt the soup was a little bland, so I added some thyme and some grated white cheddar which livened it up a lot.

This soup had a smooth, creamy texture and a very nice fresh flavor to it. It was very easy and fast to make – you can get this done in half an hour or less. I was amazed that both kids ate it – and then asked for more! I almost fell off my chair. Broccoli is the one vegetable they will both eat, but even though they are 17 and 11, they normally insist on only nibbling at the tops of the florets and not eating any stem. This is a sneaky way to get them to eat more of it.  I’ll definitely make this soup again.

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