I’m on a bit of a soup kick at the moment. What I wanted was fast cream of broccoli soup. I figured maybe it would cook up faster if I blitzed my broccoli, onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor first. And I think it did. If you don’t get lovely veg box broccoli, or don’t have a food processor, or don’t have the time, energy or inclination to chop broccoli, and if you are in the UK, you can get the bag of already riced broccoli from Coop (which is the nearest shop to me, hence the example, but I’m sure other stores have it too) and that makes things easier.

What gives the creaminess to the soup pictured is potato and oatmilk (but any milk you have kicking around will probably do) and the sharpness comes from nutritional yeast and lemon (but if you don’t have that, a strong cheese or vegan cheese like cheddar would probably work). This soup needs two pots: a big one to quickly sauté the broccoli and then to simmer it with some stock, and a little one to boil potatoes. This soup is yummy when you make it and even better the next two days.

Ingredients:

• head of broccoli (or bag of seasoned riced broccoli)
• small onion
• couple cloves of garlic or garlic power
• some sprigs of parsley or dried parsley, whatever you have around
• 2 tbsps of oil
• 2 stock cubes (I used veg stock, but mushroom or chicken would work
• one or two big potatoes
• 2-3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast and 2-3 tablespoons of lemon or 1/2 c or so of shredded cheese/vegan cheese for the sharpness
• 200ml oatmilk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Chop broccoli, onion, garlic, parsley in a food processor until you have medium/small chunks, or chop with a knife.
• Heat oil in big pot and sauté broccoli mix for a few minutes until bright green. Add 500 ml water and stock cubes and simmer.
• While the broccoli mix is simmering, chop potatoes and put them into the small pot and boil until tender. Drain, then add to a blender or a jar for an immersion blender. Add 200ml of oatmilk (or other milk), nutritional yeast, lemon, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. If using cheese rather than the nutritional yeast/lemon combo, add cheese now, and stir until melted in. Taste for sharpness and adjust seasoning.
• Add the potato mix to big pot with the broccoli mix and adjust seasoning if necessary, and if it seems to thick, you can always thin it out with a bit of oatmilk or water or stock.