Lightened Up Cream of Broccoli Soup

Yup.

Still cold here.

Still soup weather. Soup is the only thing that makes me okay with never, ever being warm. Okay coffee too. Soup and copious amounts of coffee.

Last week I ordered the ‘California Pack’ from Bountiful Baskets, maybe in hopes that there might be sunshine in there, somewhere. But instead, I got a HUGE boxful of cauliflower, carrots and broccoli. So much. The carrots and cauliflower are going to become giardiniera, but the broccoli? Well, I needed to use it or lose it.

Good thing I love cream of broccoli soup!

So it was that a few heads became this delicious, silky cream of broccoli soup. After running it through the blender, I hardly had to add any dairy to get a creamy consistency. The cream cheese adds a nice tang to the mix and kind of helps with that hankering for tons of cheddar in the soup. But definitely try it with a little cheese sprinkled on top! Yum!

If you like your soup on the chunky side, simply steam a little extra broccoli and throw it in after you’re done with the blending process. It’s a nice change and gives a little more heft to the soup.