Soup & Salad Night

Hey Y'all! Guess what. I made a new broccoli cheese soup recipe tonight and there are 2 very good reasons why I am positive I will be making it again:

1. It tastes remarkably close to Panera Bread's broccoli cheese soup... according to my (at the moment) skimpy memory.

2. It calls for the broccoli stems to be used as well as the florets. This is not a spectacular thing to me, but Alex always remarks when he sees me chopping broccoli for a veggie tray or something and I throw away all the stem. He aboslutely hates to see it go to waste! Haha, as a compromise, I started leaving longer stems on... and when his parents were visiting (this was before Titus was born) I noticed my mother-in-law daintily eating the broccoli florets (that is what they're called, right? Now it sounds funny to me!) and leaving the excess stems on her plate :). Oh well. Anyways, he was impressed that it used the whole broccoli stalk!

So without further ado, here is the recipe!

Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup

From Tammy's Recipes (www.tammysrecipes.com)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 onion, chopped

2 large heads broccoli (about 14 ounces, fresh)

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

12-16 ounces American/processed cheese, cubed

salt, to taste (at least 1 teaspoon!)

Instructions:

1. In large stock pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook and stir until onion is tender.

2. Wash and trim ends of broccoli and then chop broccoli (including stems). Add broccoli and chicken broth to pot. Cover adn bring to a boil. Simmer until broccoli is tender, about 10-15 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, cornstarch, pepper, and garlic salt. Add to boiling broccoli mixture, stirring until thickened, about 3-5 minutes.

4. Reduce heat to low-medium low and stir in cheese until melted. Add salt to taste (important!).

I found that the salt was not as important as she stresses it- maybe my processed cheese is saltier than she uses. Anyways, do remember to taste it before adding any!

P.S. Have y'all heard of Stacy's brand pita chips? I'd heard of them but was under the impression that they would be found at a pricey health food store. Well, we were at Sams Club last Saturday and discovered a 24oz bag for $4.98!! Considering that name brand potato chips are usually closer to 10oz for $2.50-$3 I didn't feel guilty at all trying these out! And they're good! We got the "bare naked" flavor (nothing but sea salt!) and they are good with dip or... SOUP!!! :) I was dipping them in my soup tonight :). Anyways, just thought I'd give y'all a heads up on them, since they're actually healthy, reasonably priced, and good! Ta ta!