Broccoli Stalk Soup

I have been making this soup for many years. It was a product of the saying, “Waste not want not.” My kids never liked the stalks of broccoli and I was unhappy throwing so many of them away so I treated them like asparagus spears and made soup with them instead, and my kids loved this soup. It is so fast an easy and doesn’t need cheese or much fat either. I only add a touch of cream to this which isn’t even necessary, so it makes a great meal for those wanting to lose some fat. There is no need for flour either, because pureeing the onions does a great job of thickening this soup.

This recipe will make two medium size bowls of soup. Start with chopping about 3/4 cup of onion. It doesn’t need to be perfect since it is going in the blender anyway. Cut about an inch off of the ends off of three thick broccoli stalk. Sometimes older broccoli can get a little “woody” and it wont break down in the cooking or in the blender, so I don’t take a chance in that ruining my soup, like it has before. Using asparagus I have to do the same thing. Get a soup pot hot and add in a tablespoon of butter and the onions and give it a good salting. Sauté the onions on medium heat for five minutes or so, just until they start to brown.

Add in two cups of chicken bone broth to the onion pot along with the broccoli and the peel of one or even two lemons. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot with a lid. Cook the broccoli until fork tender, about thirty to forty minutes. Take the lid off and cool the mixture enough to blend it all in a blender without it being dangerous. Add in two tablespoons of cream and blend the soup until smooth and serve.

This is a usual soup for me because of the vitamin K1 content in the broccoli, and because I enjoy this soup. Here is my email to Ray Peat on 3/3/2022 about broccoli being a good source of vitamin C as well.

Me: “Doesn’t “well cooked vegetables”, like broccoli, kill vitamin C?”
Ray Peat: “Broccoli, kale, etc., are very rich in vitamin C, some goes into the water, which should be used.”