Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Sometimes parties are just a party of two…and that’s okay, a quiet night at home enjoying some hot soup sounds like a great party to me.  This is my go to recipe every time I want a comforting creamy broccoli soup; I made this over a couple of years already and it at the top of my favorites for soup recipes.  It’s nutritious, creamy and has a cheesy flavor; all wrapped up in a vegan package no less.  You could even fool your party guests; they will think there is cheese and cream in it. My vegan cream of broccoli soup will warm you up all over like it has for me on this cold late winter rainy night.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or vegan butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 clove of garlic, smashed

½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

6 cups vegetable stock

4 cups broccoli florets

½ cup unsweetened almond milk or other plant based milk

½ cup nutritional yeast

Directions

• Heat the oil in a 6 quart soup pot like a Dutch oven over medium heat, add onions, carrots, celery and pepper flakes and cook until translucent, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic, black pepper, kosher salt, thyme, potatoes and 6 cups of vegetable stock, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil and then reduce to medium/low, cover and cook until the potatoes are tender about 15 minutes.  Add the broccoli, cover and cook until the broccoli is fork tender, about 10 minutes more.
• Using an immersion blender directly in the pot or you can use a blender, blending in batches until the soup is silky smooth, adding the almond milk and nutritional yeast and puree until smooth.
• Add water if needed for desired consistency and adjust salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 6