Hearty and delicious, this soup is mostly puréed veggies instead of using the more traditional (and calorie-laden) flour-butter roux and heavy cream foundation.

Ingredients

1 large bunch raw broccoli, washed
1.5 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced or diced
1 cup raw cauliflower florets, washed
4.5 cups vegetable stock
1/2 large (or 1 medium) onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
7 ounces vegan cheddar cheese (Reccomended: 1 block Daiya Farmhouse Cheddar), coarsely grated
1/3 cup vegan plain yogurt or cashew cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp tamari (can sub regular soy sauce; use tamari if you want soup to be gluten free)
Ground black pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

Trim broccoli into small florets and set these aside in a small bowl. We’re using the rest of the broccoli in the soup base – remove and discard any thick or tough skin from the large stems with a vegetable peeler, trim off the dried ends, then dice the broccoli stems. Mix the salt, dry mustard, smoked paprika and nutritional yeast flakes in a small prep bowl.

Heat a large heavy saucepan with lid on medium-high flame. When pan is hot, add the vegetable oil, then sauté onion, shallot and garlic for about 5 minutes or until very lightly browned. While those are sautéing, heat vegetable stock in microwave or on stovetop until hot.

Add hot stock to saucepan with cooked onions etc. and bring to boil; add potatoes, diced broccoli stems, and cauliflower. When mixture boils, reduce to simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes, then add dry seasonings and cook for another 5 minutes; at this point, stir in tamari and toss in a small handful of broccoli florets; cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.

When all the vegetables are soft, remove soup from heat. Purée the mixture using immersion or conventional blender until very smooth. Add yogurt or cashew cream and blend well. 

Return puréed soup to heat and bring to simmer, then add remaining raw broccoli florets and vegan cheese; cook for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and florets are tender but not mushy.

Whisk (or use single electric hand mixer beater – not immersion blender) to blend cheese into broth; avoid breaking up the whole broccoli florets. Adjust seasoning with ground pepper and a little more salt, if needed.

Serve hot. Makes about 2.5 liters/quarts – 6 to 8 servings. It’s gluten free, provided you used tamari and your vegan cheese and vegan yogurt are GF!