Cream of Broccoli Soup

Guys, I have a HUGE problem.  I don't measure ANYTHING!!  Seriously, when I'm making up recipes, I just feel it out and look to see if the proportions seem right.  For those of you who need measurements, I'm so sorry.  I will try my best in the future but, seriously, this is why I love cooking. With cooking, you don't need to actually measure anything.  Just go for it!  Now, it's the exact opposite for baking.  With baking, you really do need exact measurements because baking is a bit more scientific.  I am not scientific.. but I can follow a baking recipe.  :)

Anyway, I had a few crowns of broccoli left over that really needed to be used or tossed within a day or two.  I am making something tonight that I don't need, nor want, broccoli for.. so I decided to try a Cream of Broccoli Soup.  I haven't always like Cream of Broccoli, but just as I started to actually like it, I ran into health issues and couldn't eat a lot of the creams soups out there.  For one, nearly every single one has flour - WHY??  A lot of times, you don't actually NEED flour.... Anyway... I decided to give a recipe a try this afternoon and it turned out AWESOME!  I added a little splash of fall flavors in there just to keep with the season.  :)  Now, this little sucker is going in the freezer for a fall or winter day when we don't feel like cooking!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:
- Broccoli Florets (about 3 cups)
- Chicken Stock (1-2 cups)
- Yellow Onion (eyeball this, you want to chop it and have for flavor but obviously, don't want the onion to over power the broccoli flavor.  I used half of a larger onion for my broccoli)
- 1 tablespoon of GOOD QUALITY butter (I use Kerry Gold)
- 1ish tablespoons of organic cream cheese
- 1ish tablespoons of milk (heavy cream, half & half)
- sea salt
- pepper
- all spice
- turmeric

Process:
In a pan, melt the butter then add the chopped onions and saute briefly over medium heat.  Then add chopped broccoli florets.  Mix this around to get everything going in the bottom of the pan.  Then add your chicken broth.  In my pan, I added about 1-2 cups, enough so that everything was ALMOST covered but not quite.  Turn down the heat, cover and let simmer (mixing occasionally) for about 5ish minutes - or until the broccoli is tender.
Remove from heat, add the broccoli mixture into a food processor and puree (you can use a blender too, you just want to get the chunks down)
Once done processing, add the mixture back to the same pan.  Slowly add in a bit of the milk and mix.. then add some of the cream cheese slowly.  I did it in about 3 tries.. a little in, stir and melt, a little more.. etc.
Get it to YOUR desired taste and creaminess.  This is totally up to you!
Add in a dash of salt and pepper to taste (you don't need much salt here)
Then add in a few small dashes of turmeric and all spice... a little will go a long way here.. so use a little, stir it, taste it, see if it needs more... totally up to you!  :)

The turmeric and the all spice are great fall flavors.
*** Turmeric has a peppery, warm and bitter flavor and a mild fragrance slightly reminiscent of orange and ginger, and it is best known as one of the ingredients used to make curry!  PLUS, it is an EXCELLENT anti-inflammatory!!! So, you get the lovely taste of it PLUS the added health benefits!  Give it a try!  :)