Roasted Broccoli Soup
19. Jan, 2010 
9 Comments
I don’t know about you, but I always overdo it during the holidays. An extra piece of cake? Sure, it’s the holidays! Another glass of wine? Why not! It is the holidays! An entire log of cashew goat cheese?! ’Tis the season!
That kind of logic happens in my brain from probably before Thanksgiving until we come back to LA from our trip home to Chicago for Christmas. Once we’re back, it’s all about eating healthy food and cutting out caffeine and alcohol (and for me too much extra sugar). For the month of January we do our “detox” and try to get back into a healthier swing of things.
I’m not really a big drinker, so that part isn’t a huge deal for me (not so much for Ryan!). But I have been relying on the old caffeine crutch for all the early morning baking and farmers’ markets I’ve been doing. Fortunately, I can drink Teeccino, which provides a great placebo and is actually good for you. We’re also drinking lots of caffeine free tea and trying to drink more water. As for the sweets, I try to keep the ”testing” to a minimum, and if I’m really craving something sweet I’ll have a small piece of dark chocolate or a date.
In addition to cutting out all of these things, we’re also trying to just eat healthier foods in general. So I’ve been trying to experiment with simple meals that don’t require a ton of time in the kitchen and that will make it more likely for me to cook most weeknights. Soups are usually good for that.
My brother-in-law was raving about roasted broccoli when we were back home, and I realized that I’d never made it. Then I got to wondering how it might taste in a soup, and decided to try it out. This soup is incredibly easy to make and tastes like a puree of fresh roasted broccoli. It’s a simple (and tasty!) flavor, but you can always spice it up more if you like. For a nice healthy meal this version hits the spot.
Roasted Broccoli Soup
about 4 small or 2 large servings
2 large heads broccoli (about 2 pounds)
2 large cloves garlic
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
4-5 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
a few cracks lemon pepper, or fresh grated lemon zest
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the broccoli florets from the stems (you don’t have to cut them small), and place them on baking sheet. Slice the stems thinly and place them on a separate baking sheet. Peel and slice the garlic, and sprinkle it in with the florets. Drizzle the olive oil over both trays (use more than 2-3 Tbsp if you need to), and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss the florets and stems in the oil and put them in the oven to roast until they’re browned. (The stems take about 15 – 20 minutes, and the florets take at least ten minutes more. Turn both halfway through the cooking time, and take them out once they’re good and browned.)
Put the florets and stems in a pot with 4 cups of veggie broth and the thyme, and heat until the broth comes to a boil. If the broth doesn’t almost cover the broccoli, you might want to add the extra cup at this point, or you can wait to add it after blending if you want a thinner soup.
Once the broth has come to a boil, transfer the whole thing to a blender and puree. (You might have to do this in batches. And remember to be careful when blending hot liquids!) Return the soup to the pot.
You can add more broth at this point if you want it thinner, or simmer for a bit if you’d like it a bit thicker. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if you need to. I had some lemon pepper which was a nice addition. You could also add a bit of lemon zest to taste to brighten up the flavor.
All that’s left to do is enjoy! And feel healthy doing it!
Mmm, this sounds so simple & delicious!
I made this soup and all I have to say is THANK YOU.
I have hated broccoli my ENTIRE life and this soup was scrumpdidlyumptious.
I blogged about it here:
http://wordadayinspired.blogspot.com/2010/01/food-therapy.html
YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM! Broccoli is one of my favorite foods, and I love it roasted. I also love thyme, so I think I am destined to love this soup! Thanks for sharing it.
I also wanted to respond to your comment from last week (or was it earlier? I’m so behind) about Ener-G egg replacer. I didn’t mean to imply that it’s lazy to use it sometimes, just that it seemed lazy for a cookbook author to rely on it exclusively. Like, try flax or pureed fruit, lady! I guess it’s one of the perils of hiring non-vegans to write vegan cookbooks (i.e., The Gluten-free Vegan)–they just swap out the eggs and such for one-size-fits-all “replacers.” Your recipes are so much more creative!
Hi, Mary! I hope you like the soup, and I know exactly what you mean about Ener-G – when the recipes already aren’t that great, and you use Ener-G across the board, it can be pretty boring. And thanks for the compliment!
I tried this with cauliflower – one of my favorite vegetables to roast – and it turned out great! It’s the first soup I’ve ever tried to make.
thanks for the deee-lish recipe! even my baby loved it
Hi, Sara! I’m so glad you and baby liked the recipe!
Hey, Molly! I’m so glad you liked it. I’ll have to try it with cauliflower. I feel like that’s a vegetable that I don’t use enough.
Hey, Fairfield! I’m so happy to hear that you liked the soup!