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TWT: Broccoli Soup (Gluten-free)

helping each other be good stewards of all our resources: money, possessions, time, energy, and health

Every year we plant a double 30 foot row of broccoli in the garden.  My husband loves broccoli, and the rest of us don’t mind it.  My favorite way of eating it, besides peeling and nibbling the stalks raw, is in soup.

We usually make several gallons of broccoli soup at a time, but this recipe is for a smaller amount.

Here’s the recipe for one large head of broccoli:

Finely chop about ¼ cup of onion, and simmer in about two cups of water (or meat broth with cooked meat) in a large pan.

Meanwhile, wash and cut up the broccoli and chop it in a blender with as much water as you need to blend it.

Blend in 2-5 large basil leaves.  Fresh basil makes the soup taste incredible, but about ¼ t of dried basil would also work.

Add your other favorite soup herbs to taste, and blend some more.  We use fresh lovage and occasionally add savory as well.

Add the broccoli mixture to the pan and heat.  I also rinse the blender out carefully to get the last bits of broccoli into the pan.

Add other seasonings to taste.  Here’s what we often add:

¼ t curry

¼ t garlic powder (fresh would work as well, and should be added to the blender)

½ t salt

1/8 t pepper

Simmer this for a few minutes.  Since the broccoli is already chopped, it doesn’t have to cook long.

To give the soup some extra body and to add that pretty shiny look, mix about 1T of corn starch (gluten-free if necessary) with about ½ cup of cold water.  Add this mixture to the soup slowly just as you would add any thickener.

Options:

  • We have made this soup with ham and ham broth, with meatballs, and with water.  When we don’t add meat, we put in about a tablespoon of butter or olive oil just to give the soup an extra taste boost.
  • Occasionally I’ll add a few bits of finely chopped carrots or red pepper to add some color.  The carrots go in with the onions, but the red pepper gets added with the seasonings.
  • Miss 17 likes adding asparagus and lots of garlic, and her version is scrumptious.

Enjoy!  This beautiful, healthy soup is delicious warm, but I also like the left-overs cold.

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This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday Tuesday’s Tip JarTasty Tuesday, Thrifty Thursday, Frugal Friday, the Ultimate Recipe Swap, and Finer Things Friday.

7 Comments

  1. Kristen says:

    That sounds like a wonderful way to use a garden’s bounty. Does it freeze well?

    1. Annie Kate says:

      Excellent question. I have no idea, but I think it would. We’ve frozen similar soups. At our house, we finish it within a few days, and there’s never any to freeze!

      Annie Kate

  2. Brenda says:

    Makes me wish I had bought those broccoli crowns I saw at the market today!

  3. Laraba says:

    Do you spray your broccoli? We want to be organic, but the one time we tried to grow broccoli, it was COVERED with bugs.

    1. Annie Kate says:

      We don’t spray our broccoli, and this year we have very little ‘extra protein’ for which we are all thankful.

      Some years we have had a lot. I used to pay the children a nickle a worm, but then one of them discovered a ‘nest’ of eggs, and rather than telling me, she planned to wait until they were older so she could make a lot of money….

      In a bad year, we soak the broccoli in salt water and get most of the worms out that way, but you do always miss a few.

      Annie Kate

  4. Jenn 4 Him says:

    Oh, this does sound wonderful and I think I have everything I need to make some! I even have some ham and I was wondering what to do with it! Looks like I have lunch for tomorrow taken care of.
    Jenn

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