I love soups as it gets colder outside! This one is an all-time fave of mine, and it seems great for the next chilly days that are forecasted. Not only will it warm you from the inside out, but it’s super healthy too.

Broccoli is another healthy member of the cruciferous vegetable family, like cabbage, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choi and many more. If you’ve seen my past recipes you may have noticed that I cook with these veggies on a very regular basis. Why? All cruciferous veggies have a wonderful component, which makes them so incredibly beneficial for our health. I have shared some of these benefits in my stir-fry ginger cabbage recipe.

Now, did you know that you can make broccoli even healthier by chopping it into small pieces before cooking it? Apparently the finer you chop it, the better! Chopping the broccoli activates the enzyme myrosinase, which in turn causes sulforaphane to become available for absorption. To allow the sulfurophane to ‘develop’ it’s important to let is ‘rest’ for at least to 30 minutes before cooking it. ‘Resting’ times between 30 – 90 minutes are most beneficial to maximise sulforaphane absorption according to some research.
It was last year that I came across this interesting fact and now it became second nature for me when preparing any dish with broccoli:

1. chop finely
2. wait for at least 30 minutes 

With this information ‘out of the way’ let’s get to our creamy soup!

Ingredients

• 500gr broccoli
• 1 small onion
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1/2 Tbsp vegan butter/margarine
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 Tbsp white wine
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 100ml vegan cream (soya/oat)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp almond flakes or chopped almonds
• some pepper and nutmeg to taste

Preparation

1. Wash broccoli and chop finely
2. Set aside for at least 30 mins
3. Go and enjoy something else in the meantime like reading, chatting to a friend, or taking a power nap 😉
4. Come back and chop the onion finely. Heat some oil in a deep pan and add the chopped onion, and glaze at medium heat for 1-3 minutes. 
5. Then add the vegan butter/margarine and the finely chopped broccoli and dust the flour over the mix. Gently stir and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add the white wine, the vegetable stock, and the cream and cook everything for 5-10 minutes, until the broccoli is cooked.
7. Once cooked, turn off the heat and carefully blend all ingredients with a hand blender. Then season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
8. Serve in bowl sprinkling the almond flakes / chopped almonds over the soup.

Enjoy and stay warm!