Non-dairy people rejoice!!! This is a DELICIOUS cream of broccoli soup recipe WITHOUT THE CREAM…well in the traditional sense anyway. I don’t avoid dairy per say, but I have a lot of friends that are sensitive to it, so I’m always trying to create good recipes to share with them, as I know what it’s like to go through food sensitivities – not so much anymore, but I went through 10 years of it…geesh! Well, at least those 10 years led to this site and all the yumminess that I share on here. But anyway, back from the tangent and back to this soup!
Recently, we had a day full of rain here in South Bend, Indiana (my favorite kind of day – pluviophiles unite), and I was craving good old cream of broccoli soup to match the coziness of the day. I decided to get creative and figure out a way to have this delicious soup, without the cream, but still creamy…you get my drift?
Well, I ended up making a cashew “cream” that totally made this soup creamlessly creamy! I think this soup can be described in one word…YUM! So let’s get to it!
CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP (WITHOUT THE CREAM)
Ingredients
- 3/4 – 1 cup cashews
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
- 1 chopped chopped carrots
- 1/2 tsp. garlic granules
- 7-8 cups broccoli
- 4 cups water plus 1 cup water
- sea salt, to taste
Directions
1.) Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the cashews, remove from heat, and allow to soak for 15-30 minutes.
2.) After the cashews have soaked for 15-30 minutes, drain the water, and place the cashews in a food processor with 1 cup of water. Process on high until completely smooth with no lumps. Set the cashew cream aside.
3.) In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, cook for 5 minutes. Add the celery and carrots. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and garlic granules.
4.) Add 4 cups of water to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender.
5.) Transfer the soup to a food processor. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your processor. Process on high until smooth.
6.) Add in the cashew cream, leaving a little bit to stir into each individual serving for presentation. Season with sea salt, to taste.
7.) Transfer to bowls. Add a bit of cashew cream to each bowl, and gently stir the cream in to give it a swirly look.
You’re going to LOVE this stuff – even if you aren’t dairy free (like myself), this stuff is amazing! Enjoy! 🙂
Loving and Laughing 