On the Greener Side

I promised at least one cooking post this week and this might be it - we'll see.

I had planned to make soup on Sunday and then it turned out to be a great, warm day. It didn't seem like soup weather.

Of course, that broccoli and spinach I bought at the West Side Market wouldn't last forever, so soup was to be made sooner than later.

America's Test Kitchen did a segment weeks back on Broccoli Cheese soup (BCS from now on, I'm not typing that out over and over again). I like this kind of soup. To be fair, they warned viewers that true BCS isn't orange like you see at places like Panera (though it is really good there!), but green.  And green it is.

One uses the broccoli florets and the stems. But the green colour comes more from the spinach.

Since you use unsalted butter and low-sodium chicken broth, and there are two different kinds of cheese, I took it easy on adding salt. But after it was all done, I did need to put some in for flavour. ...still it was missing something. I can't put my finger on it.

The recipe also calls to use a blender. America's Test Kitchen used one and it was a smooth soup. That's great, but I do like some texture, and if you remember, sometimes the blender and I are not compatible. I used an immersion blender.

I would probably serve to guests. It is healthy (no cream), clean-up takes longer than prep. You can cook it and blend it all in one pot. It makes 6-8 servings, so we'll have it for a little while, but I suppose I'll be eating it for lunch this week.

It doesn't photograph very well. And the green isn't horribly appetizing (remember when they tried green ketsup?)  and it looks like pea soup. But the rustic bread was good, and hearty enough to dip into the soup. It all definitely tastes better than it looks.



Song by:  Michelle Shocked