Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I'm a huge fan of Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  It makes me sad that restaurant versions have so many calories.  This one is a bit more diet friendly. 

And super steamy...

When I was little, my mom used to tell me to "eat my trees."  I felt like a giant, picking up broccoli in my fingers and munching off the leaves: I didn't like the trunks.  But I guess I've always liked broccoli, which is why I get confused when people tell me they don't like broccoli.  I mean, look how pretty it is.

Yum.

A mostly broccoli soup may be a bit too overwhelming for some, so we're going to add some cauliflower to mellow out the flavor.  And carrots, because they're good for you.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
3 large bunches of broccoli, bottom of the stalks removed and washed
1/4 of a large head of cauliflower, broken into chunks and washed
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
vegetable stock
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Put the vegetables in a large stock pot.  Fill with vegetable stock until the vegetables are almost covered.

Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are fork-tender.  I tend to pull out the vegetables when they get to the level of tenderness that I like so that they don't over cook.

Once everything is cooked, return any  veggies you've removed back to the pot and remove from the heat.  Allow to cool a bit (about 10 minutes).

Now, there's a few things you can do.  You can use a potato masher, smoosh up the vegetables and you've got a very flavorful, rather low calorie soup.

Nah, that's no fun.

Let's blend these bad boys together.  You can use an immersion blender or if you don't have one of those, use a blender to process the soup until smooth, making sure to do it in batches (if you put it all in the blender at once, you'll have a soup explosion).

Return the pan to low heat and stir in the milk, cream, and cheeses.  Continue to stir as the soup heats up, making sure not to heat the soup to boiling.  Boiling the soup will cause the milk/cream to "break" or curdle.  We don't want that.  We want smooooooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Now eat!  (I might have added a little bit more cheddar to my bowl.)

This soup freezes very well.  I put it in pretty little jars and stuck them in the freezer.

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