Cream of Broccoli - The Good For You Edition

I love cream of .....anything.... soup!  Especially cream of broccoli.  Probably because it makes me feel like its really good for me since it has the word broccoli in it.  You know?  I was browsing  through recipes in the book The Everything Anti Inflammation Diet and found an actually good for you version of the soup.  They took out the cream and substituted with Silken Tofu.   I'm NOT a lover of tofu but thought I'd try it anyways since its blended up into the soup and I can pretty much pretend its not there.  

Silken (soft) Tofu looks like this in case you've never heard of it (I hadn't) and you can find it at a natural foods type of grocery store.  I found it in the beans/specialty foods isle, not in the refrigerated section like I thought.   And..........to talk yourself into giving tofu a try you should know that tofu is really good for you.  It has iron and copper which will help with energy, calcium which of course will keep your bones strong, omega 3 fatty acids which is good for your heart and preventing clots and clogged arteries, selenium which helps regulate your thyroid and is cancer-fighting, and it can help with menopause if youre into that kinda thing currently.  Pretty good stuff to add to your diet every once in awhile! 

Cream of Broccoli

2 heads of broccoli, cut off the stem and chopped

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

6 cups low sodium vegetable stock

3 Tbs white or yellow miso (also found in health food stores)

12 oz package Silken Tofu

salt and pepper to taste

toasted pine nuts to top it off

1. In a large saucepan, saute onions and garlic in oil til tender. 

2. Add parsley (save a little for garnish).  Add stock and broccoli. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until broccoli is tender, about 15 mins.

3. Remove small amount of broth and dissolve miso into it. Stir back into pot. 

4. Crumble tofu into broth, use hand mixer to puree until smooth (or add mix to a blender).

5. Add salt!  It needed it :)

112 calories/serves 8