Our weather has been still been teetering between winter and spring. And so reluctantly, we’ve still be craving the comfort of soup.
This cauli-broccoli soup is something I’ve come to make so often. It’s not super glamorous, but it is beloved in our household. I love it because it can be ready in less than 20 minutes and I always get to feel a little like super mom when my family devours it. I remember strongly disliking cauliflower and broccoli as a kid. So any way I can sneak these veggies into my little one’s diet is a big win.
Two great things about this soup is that cauliflower and broccoli are items you can always find at the market AND you can switch it up each time you make it. Sometimes I throw in cumin and turmeric, sometimes I squeeze in fresh lemon juice/zest, and add crushed red pepper plus parmesan, and sometimes I just throw in whatever other veggies I have in the fridge.
Oh and I love that this soup gives me the opportunity to use those broccoli stems that I find too fibrous in a salad or stir fry. When you’re not using the stems, freeze ’em and then you can just turn them into this soup.
Also, in terms of how long to blend/puree the soup, it’s really up to you. Sometimes I only blend for a couple minutes so that I can see those little pieces of the broccoli florets still floating around. This time, I blended until it was super creamy (without cream).
I usually serve this soup with crackers or warm French bread. But this time, I was craving a grilled cheese and I knew we had shredded pepper jack. Now in the past when I’ve given my son a half of a grilled cheese to dip in soup, he has dropped the whole thing in and then been super upset that it is soggy. And then of course, he won’t eat a soggy sandwich or the soup it is sitting in. And so in lieu of all that messiness (and a tantrum), I made our pepper jack grilled cheeses into croutons! These were perfect for my little one’s little fingers to dip one at a time. And perfect for me to throw on top since I knew I’d be devouring them way before they got close to soggy. 🙂
Even though I was disheartened this week by more unexpected drizzling, these pepper jack cheese croutons totally made up for it. Plus I hear we have some 80 degree days on the horizon! So it’s flip flops and ice cream from here on out, am I right?!
Hope you have a great rest of the week friends! Thanks for reading!
- For the soup:
- ⅓ cup red onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 head of broccoli, cut off florets, rough chop of stems (about 2½ cups)
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets (about 2½ cups)
- 3 cups chicken broth
- Salt & pepper
- For the croutons:
- 4 slices of bread
- 1 cup pepper jack cheese
- ½ stick of room temperature butter
- For the soup: In a large pot on medium heat, sauté onion with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes.
- Add minced garlic, broccoli and cauliflower and sauté for another 3 minutes.
- Add 3 cups of broth, bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Let cool for a few minutes and then place in a blender. Blend on medium speed until desired texture.
- Add back to pot and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- For the croutons: Heat a medium-sized pan on medium heat.
- Completely butter one side of each slice of bread.
- Place two slices of bread, buttered side down, in the pan.
- Add the shredded cheese. Then top each slice with another slice of bread, buttered side up.
- Turn heat to low and cook 3-4 minutes, until golden brown.
- Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Cheese should be fully melted.
- Remove from heat, and cut into one inch pieces (if you wish, you can cut the crust off before slicing the croutons). Serve immediately alongside the soup.
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