It’s that time of the year when a steaming bowl of soup is very welcome! Especially on a day like today when it is trying to snow down here on the Sunshine Coast. Additionally, with the bonus of not wasting food. I hate wasting food and there is a lot in the news recently about people wasting food, particularly with people buying particular things to make so that their food photos look amazing on Instagram. Well, you won’t  get that here!!  You’ll notice that the set up of ingredients includes a broccoli stalk, yup you can use the stalk! I have in the past made a broccoli soup just from stalks to reduce waste. There are other things you can do with a broccoli stalk, which is a post for another day! This is a real thrifty recipe that can be mixed up in different ways by leaving things out if you don’t have them. It is a very forgiving recipe.

recipe: broccoli soup

serves: 4

ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (or 2 if you love it like me!) clove of garlic, crushed
• Head of broccoli, chopped
• Broccoli stalk, chopped (you could replace this with another head of broccoli)
• 2 vegetable stock cubes made up to 800ml with hot water
• 200ml of milk (you can leave this out and make the stock up to 1 litre instead)
• Splash of olive oil or just water if you don’t have it
• Salt and pepper

Method:

Put the chopped onion into a large pan with the splash of olive oil or some water. Fry until softened and slightly translucent. Add the garlic and cook for  a couple more minutes.

Add the chopped broccoli and stir round for a few minutes while you make the stock. Add the stock and milk (if you are using) and then simmer until the broccoli is soft, about 15-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whizz with a stick blender and serve! You may want to add more stock/water  depending on the thickness . Super easy peasy and delicious!

Let me know if you make this soup, I’d love to hear from you!