I love experimenting with ways to get my kids to eat their vegetables. Pizza is definitely a good way – but I have found that soup and smoothies is another one. One day we happen to be at Cost-Co when they were demoing the Vitamix blender. The man behind the counter was just about to make a “Princess and the Frog” smoothie. Of course the kids were intrigued. Anything that has the word princess in it gets their attention. So we decided to watch him – he threw in a banana, a whole orange (with just the orange skin removed), some grape juice, pineapple, and a ton of spinach. Yes, the smoothie was green. But, they both tried it and LOVED it. I seriously almost walked out that way with the Vitamix, but decided my Waring blender would work just fine – I just have to peel the orange though.
Then there is soup – both my kids love carrot soup, and even pumpkin soup – as long as there are no distinguishable vegetables in sight. So, I saw this recipe in Cook’s Illustrated, and I decided I must give it a try. The soup was delicious – both of my kids ate it – and although my younger one was not super crazy about it, she did manage to eat most of her bowl. What I liked most about the soup was how creamy it was without using any milk or cream. The cheese gave it a great flavor, and as the recipe mentioned, by cooking the broccoli to death, it really takes most of the bitterness out. I felt good that night when they went to sleep that they had gotten a well-balanced meal…without any grape juice.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 pounds broccoli, florets roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces, stems trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick-slices
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
- pinch or cayenne pepper
- table salt
- 3-4 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 ounces baby spinach
- 3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (3/4 cup)
- 1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated fine, plus extra for serving
Preparation
Heat butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, add broccoli, onion, garlic, dry mustard, cayenne, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Add 1 cup of water and baking soad. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring once during cooking.
Add broth and 2 cups of water and increase heat to medium-high. When mixture begins to summer, stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer half of soup to blender, add cheddar and Parmesan, and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer soup to a medium bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return soup to the Dutch oven, and place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Adjust consistency of the soup with up to 1 cup of water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, passing extra Parmesan separately.
Serves 6.
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First Look, Then Cook 
This looks so good! Cook’s Illustrated always has such delicious recipes. I’ll definitely be trying this out on the next cloudy day. I love broccoli and use any excuse I can to make it. :)
And that Vitamix blender is so cool! When I watched the guy he threw an entire apple in. My dad almost bought it, but then we realized it was a bit ridiculous to spend $300 on a blender we probably wouldn’t use nearly as much as we think we would. It’s definitely a cool toy though!
Soup looks great – I have most of those ingredients on hand and will try maybe tonight!
I must put in a plug for the Vita-Mix – I have an old model – 10-12 years old, and it is WELL WORTH the price. What makes it so awesome is instant variable speed (that is also what makes it expensive) – plus it just blends really well. It actually chops the food without just frothing things up with lots of air. Prior to this I had a kitchen-aid and although that thing looked industrial was the WORST blender ever.
I have since talked 3 people into buying a vita-mix and they all love as well. We all regularly talk about its awesomeness. The price is a bit off-putting, but I am actually thinking of getting a second one for our cabin.
I saw this recipe listed somewhere as “no dairy” but it has butter and cheese??
Ok, I am really sorry about this…I will blame this on lack of sleep. You are correct – what I meant to write was no milk or cream…but there is butter and cheese. I guess you could use margarine instead of the butter, but it can’t really be broccoli-cheese soup without the cheese. Sorry about that!!
Dawn, thanks for the inspiration! I made this broccoli soup tonight and Arla really liked it (B+). Sam just said, “Mom, why do you make soup so much lately?” and gave it a slightly thumbs down. It was very easy and yummy. BUT I wish we had the biscuits in the photo you posted too!
Kate – stayed tuned for the biscuits…they are coming soon. I’m glad Arla gave it a B+, not bad for an 8 year old!
broccoli and cheddar are one of my favorite combo! Your soup looks so delicious and creamy :) Yumm!
Dawn, just wanted to let you know I made this soup last night and it was absolute perfection. I took some photos but I guess I can’t post them for you. But trust me, it was perfect and the most amazing shade of green. Thank you!
I too saw this recipe in Cooks Illustrated and thought it looked great. I just made it and the color is beautiful + green, of course the texture is excellent but so is everything I put in the Vitamix. my problem is that the soup leaves a film on my teeth…I wonder if it is from the spinach? Sometimes spinach can do this too, almost like a tannic wine. I can’t figure it out. i usually make broccoli soup this way, minus the baking soda and minus the spinach + cheese, just a simple vegetable puree. The color isn’t nearly as beautiful, but the flavor is yummy. I am wondering the cause of the film? Any ideas?
I bet it is the spinach – it doesn’t happen to everyone, but I have heard that happen sometimes…that’s too bad, because the spinach does give it an amazing green color!
I have to add to Jen’s comment about the Vitamix. I love mine and have talked several friends into purchasing one of their own. As I was priceshopping last week for a colleague, I noticed they are having a spring sale on refurbished machines and they run about $359 with 5 year warranty. We make smoothies and soups in ours.