Soup's On

Alright, it's time to pull out that Food Network Magazine again. Pull out your October issue. If it's like mine the cover has a gorgeous soup photo on the cover. That's what we're going to make: Broccoli-Cheddar Soup. Are you ready? 

First chop up some onions and celery. They don't have to be perfectly uniform or anything. A rough chop should do the trick. Then add a little olive oil to a pot and cook those veggies until they're soft.

While those are cooking peel and chop some potatoes and sweet potatoes. Again, they don't have to be perfect. Look at mine. They're pretty much all different sizes. We just don't want them to be so big that they take forever to cook.

Once the onions and celery are soft add chicken broth, half and half, potatoes, sweet potatoes, a bay leaf, 2 cups of water, and some salt and pepper. Simmer it until the potatoes are soft. While that's going. Cook your broccoli. I steamed it on the stove, but you can also cook it in the microwave. I also didn't take a single picture of that. I must have been distracted. Let's just move on shall we? Pretend your brocoli is cooking.

Once the potatoes are soft throw everything into a blender, or if you have one of those immersion blenders you can just use that to puree everything. Right about now I was wishing I had one of those immersion blenders. Perhaps I'll have to add it to my Christmas list. Oh, well. This blender works quite well. Just be careful because the soup is hot.

Put the soup back into the pot and admire the view. It's looking pretty good especially if you're one to have texture issues with soup.

Now you're ready to add cheese and broccoli, so go ahead. I'm not sure how much cheese the recipe called for, but I'm pretty sure that I probably doubled it because that's just how I roll around here. Now if you've got texture issues you might have a problem with the broccoli. You'll just have to get over it and just eat the soup the way it is because it's pretty darn good.

I have to admit that my Lutheran Stud and I aren't big broccoli fans. In fact we decided not to grow it in our garden this year. Our kids will eat, but it's not their favorite vegetable. They loved this soup and I think every one of them asked for more. Serve it up hot with pita chips or croutons. It's delicious!

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

• 2 cups half-and-half

• 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

• 1 bay leaf

• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

• 2 cups chopped broccoli florets

• 1/3 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 1/3 cups)

Croutons or Pita chips, for topping (optional)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, half-and-half, both potatoes, bay leaf, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, steam broccoli on stove top until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. The color should be bright green.

When the potatoes are tender, remove the bay leaf from the soup and transfer the soup to a blender. Puree until smooth, leaving the filler cap slightly open to let steam escape (or puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender). Return the soup to the pot and thin with water, if necessary. Return to a simmer over medium-low heat; stir in the broccoli and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe courtesy of Food Network Magazine.