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If any of your have been following me on social media @inspirednutritionandhealth, you have probably seen that I have been a little under the weather the past few days. It is SO unlike me to get sick! I haven't caught the common cold in years but this year, I got it bad. Thankfully, I'm on the better side of things now and I'm starting to feel better again. I was trying to pin point exactly what could have broken down my immune system or how I could have caught this cold. For starters, a few of my co-workers and my clients are really sick and the flu seems to be hitting more people this year than in previous years. I'm thankful I didn't hit with the flu though! Regardless, I haven't been feeling my best so I took the day off to actually rest and relax. Between driving two hours every day to and from work and then coming home, making dinner and doing it all over again, I barely have time to rest during the week. Then I will see clients on Saturdays as well so the whole week tends to fly by pretty quick! Today was a much needed day of rest!! So with any sick day comes warm, comforting and cozy foods. I really was craving soup and not like a chicken noodle soup but I mean like a thick, hearty and creamy soup. I used to work across from a bakery called "Bread and Chocolate" in Newton, MA a few years ago and they have one of the BEST soups I've ever had. It was a zucchini bail soup and I'll never forget it's amazing flavor and creamy texture. Now I have moved locations and don't get to enjoy that soup anymore so I wanted to re-create something similar.
I usually do all of my grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday and then meal prep for the week so I was pretty low on groceries since today is Thursday but I didn't want to go out and buy anymore because I felt so crappy. I didn't have any zucchini so, I totally improvised and even surprised myself with the soup that I created. I was looking for some type of veggie for my staple of the soup and all I could find was frozen broccoli. Yup. Nothing fancy but it did the job! So then it determined itself! Cream of broccoli soup it was. I looked up a few different recipes for cream of broccoli soup but a lot of them included dairy and all purpose flour so I did a little improvising and swapped out some ingredients for a more plant based friendly version. The result was AMAZING. Honestly, like I said I even surprised myself. Once you see the ingredients you would initially think, how does that even taste good? But trust me, it's good.
The original recipe that I found called for butter, onions, celery, broth, milk, broccoli, all purpose flour and black pepper. There were some items that I didn't want to use or just didn't have. I chose not to use the butter, milk or all purpose flour and I just didn't have an onion. Instead of using butter, milk or all purpose flour, I used coconut oil, full fat coconut milk and coconut flour. Do you see a trend there? I really didn't plan for it to all be coconut but that's just what I happened to have in my cabinets to help substitute for the right texture. Since I didn't have an onion, I used some onion powder to at least give it a flavor kick and I tossed some garlic powder in there as well because I'm a huge garlic and onion lover. I took the broth ingredient to another level and used chicken bone broth from Kettle & Fire to get in healthy protein and collagen. In order to make this soup completely vegan, substitute the chicken bone broth with an organic vegetable broth. See my full recipe below!
Dairy-Free, Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
Ingredients:
1 stalk organic celery
3 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp coconut flour
1 cup full fat coconut milk
3 cups Kettle & Fire chicken bone broth (use Pacific Foods organic vegetable broth for the full vegan recipe)
8 cups broccoli
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
Pinch of parsley or basil for topping
Method
Place a large saucepan on medium heat.
Add 1 tbsp coconut oil to saucepan. Chop celery, add and sautee for 1-2 minutes.
Add in broccoli and broth and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Place the broccoli and broth mixture into nutribullet or blender and puree until smooth.
Add the pureed mixture back into the saucepan placed on medium heat.
Add the remainder of the coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut flour and seasonings and stir until smooth.
Remove from saucepan and top with parsley or basil (or both)
Enjoy!
This soup seriously hit the spot and I was able to have plenty of leftovers! It's too good. The consistency was just right and was nice and thick. If you try this recipe, let me know how it comes out and if you prefer any other seasonings to add to the soup!
I hope everyone has a relaxed and restful weekend coming up and stay healthy!!
All the best,
Katie