I must be honest here. Broccoli didn't pass my lips until I was well past my 30th birthday. I was raised in an era when green vegetables were cooked until they turned gray and I became adept at hiding peas and other sundry in my dinner napkin. My conversion, when it came, was due to the power of Chinese takeout and the lovely crisp vegetables tucked inside those carry-out containers. Again, in the interest of complete transparency, you also need to know that I love a bargain. That will help you understand how 5 pounds of spinach, 3 pounds of broccoli florets and 2 pounds of snap peas simultaneously ended up in the vegetable crisper of a refrigerator that feeds two people. I reason that if we don't eat it all it's still less expensive than buying in smaller quantities. Here's the problem - I can't bare to waste food, so I end up scrambling to create usable recipes that will save my bargains from the compost pile. I really like today's recipe. It uses five ingredients to produce a vegan soup that is delicious - a real palate pleaser. It starts with broccoli that's cooked in vegetable stock along with a puree of caramelized onions, garlic and lite tofu. The end result is a creamy broccoli soup that contains no cream. I hope you'll try this one. I don't think you'll be disappointed. It improves as it sits, it's great for company and it can be served hot or cold. What's not to like?
Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups (14 to 16-oz.) thinly sliced onions
2 tablespoons (about 6 cloves) coarsely chopped garlic
1 (12-oz.) box lite silken tofu
1-1/2 to 2 pounds broccoli florets
2 (14.5-oz.) cans vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh lemon juice to taste (optional)
Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook covered, stirring occasionally until onions are caramelized. Remove onions to bender jar. Add garlic to skillet; cook until garlic is fragrant. Add to blender jar. Puree. Add tofu. Pulse to combine. Return to skillet.
2) Add broccoli, vegetable stock and water to skillet containing onion-tofu mixture. Bring to a simmer; cover and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer broccoli, in batches to a blender jar. Puree. Season to taste to with salt, pepper and lemon juice if using. I've found this recipe needs a good deal of salt. Yield: 6 servings.
21 comments :
I have always loved broc...I can't believe you waited so long! This sounds delish.
I really like this one, Cathy.
I love broccoli and my favourite is raw broccoli deep into salad dressing :)
This broccoli soup must be wonderful!
Ohhhhhhhhhh, I try to be more vegetarian than a meat eater, tho, I still will consume white meat. And I must say that broccoli soup is my favorite.
So, I will definitely add this to my list of cooking/trying it out!!
Yummy.
And that's how I got my husband to eat vegetables -- growing up his vegetables were always gray and overcooked but he traveled in Asia and loved Asian food. I used to joke in early married life that he would eat any vegetable as long as I stir fried and served it over rice! He is a great veggie eater now but everything is crisp. This sounds like a great soup although I've not cooked that much with tofu!
I really like it too Mary- it looks wonderfully healthy and delicious- two of my favorite words! I know the next time borccoli comes in this house I will be trying out your recipe!
Mary Thanks for sharing all the vegan recipes they are helping me have a better variety for my daughter. Looks Yummy as usual.
This sounds really good. And I'm with you--I didn't eat broccoli until well past 30. I always said that the texture reminded me of tweed--all that nubbly stuff! Sometimes I still give it a Stern Look before eating it! lol
Delicious soup recipe your blog is lovely. :-)
I need to add more veggies to our culinary life. Like you, everything I was fed was fried or grey. This looks great!
A big hello to the newcomers. I hope you'll be back often.
This sounds wonderful, Mary. I can imagine that the broccoli flavor is very fresh and light. You are so creative with tofu.
Wow, I love broccoli anything, Sure will give a try to vegan version. :)
I know I could get my picky husband to eat this. It looks so amazing and hearty. Wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Ginger, welcome back.
this looks soo good!! we were just talking about broccoli soup too. Josh can't have soy either, so sad :( :(
Sounds fantastic! Can't wait to try it! Thanks!
This soup is delicious. Really! I'm eating it right now. I added a little nutritional yeast to give a slightly cheesier flavor. It seemed like a lot of broccoli and a little thick, but maybe that was something that I did. Next time I will use a little less broccoli. Thanks for the great recipe!
This is great recipe.
I've made it before when I wanted a creamy broccoli soup without the richness of real cream.
I am not vegetarian but I would rather eat vegetables more than meat most of the time.
This recipe has some protein from the tofu so it seems like a pretty balanced and healthy meal to me.
Thank you for the recipe!
I had 4 heads of organic broccoli I needed to use up so googled "vegan broccoli soup" and found this recipe. I made it tonight and it was delicious! Next time I'll add some potato too as I think it would work really well with a bit of extra thickening. Thanks!
Had some silken tofu sitting in the cupboard, but didn't have a clue what to do with it as I haven't cooked with it before. I googled recipes and stumbled across this one, and it was a BIG success. Creamiest, loveliest soup, and completely vegan, AND packed with vegetables. Amazing. Plenty of salt and pepper lifted it at the end. YUM! Will be making this again.
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