Broccoli Cheese Soup

This week’s recipe is another soup. It is broccoli cheese. I love soup. It is so easy to store, it stores in one bowl; it is so easy to serve, you serve it in one bowl; and it is so easy to reheat, just a few minute in the microwave and you have a meal.

Soup is great to make while “running around town” because it can be left to simmer for a long time. Soup is perfect for serving a family who arrives for dinner over a period of many hours.

I got this soup recipe from one of my oldest friends, Cindy.  She is the mother of 17-year-old triplets and her children are athletic, very involved with their school and take music lessons. So you can imagine how much “running around town” Cindy has done in the past 17 years. Can you imagine teaching 3 kids to drive at the same time? When did she cook?

This soup recipe helps her put dinner on the table. You can puree this soup or serve it chunky. You can serve in bread bowls for a more hardy meal or just serve it in a bowl. Thank you Cindy, my family thinks of you every time I serve this and I serve it often, and I always double the recipe.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

16 oz. bag of frozen broccoli pieces

10 oz. bag of frozen, chopped onion

3 tablespoons of butter

1/3 cup of flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon of pepper

2 cups of milk

1 10 ¾ oz. can chicken broth

4 oz. or 1 cup of cheese – I use 1/2 cup of orange, shredded cheddar in the bag and 2 slices of American. I have friends who shred their own cheddar for this recipe and swear the taste is better, but when I make this I usually don’t want to take the time to shred my won. Believe me - this is delicious with bagged cheese.

½ teaspoon prepared, yellow mustard

Put frozen broccoli and onions in microwaveable dish and add ½ cup water and microwave for 12 minutes. This can be done any time in the day and then put in the refrigerator until you are ready to continue the soup, or left on the counter cooling while you make a trip through town.

 In the meantime, melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the flour. This mixture will stick together very quickly, just try to mix it all together and stir constantly. Now gradually add the milk about a ½ cup at a time. The milk will thin out the flour and butter mixture and the milk will become thick. Mix until the flour is smooth and without lumps before you add more milk. Stir constantly and continue to add the milk allowing the mixture to be completely blended before you add more milk.

Then add the salt and pepper, mustard and chicken broth. Stir until the chicken broth is well blended. Completely drain the broccoli and onions and add to the soup. Stir well. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently for about 15 minutes so the flavors can blend and the soup can thicken.

Do not let the soup boil but let it get very hot at this point. Add the cheeses and continue to cook over medium heat until the cheese is melted. Turn the heat down to low, stir occasionally and be careful not to boil the soup or let it stick to the bottom.  The soup can be pureed at this point or served chunky. My family prefers it pureed, what about yours?

To reheat, microwave for 1 minute at a time, stirring between minutes.  It will probably take 2-2 ½ minutes to get hot. Do not let it boil or the milk and cheese will separate but getting a little bubbly around the edges is fine.