Broccoli and cauliflower soup with cheesy croutes

This is a lovely, creamy soup and a great way to get a variety of vegetables into your diet. I often take this soup to work for lunch, and then feel good about having eaten broccoli that day :) Even my vegetable-averse daughter has been inclined to take a few bites of this soup. The recipe is adapted from The Complete Book of 400 Soups.

Broccoli and cauliflower soup with cheesy croutes
Serves four

1/4 cup butter
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 russet potato, roughly chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 head broccoli
1 head cauliflower
2/3 cup homo milk
1 small baguette
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large soup pot and add the onion, stirring for five minutes until softened.

Bring a second large pot of salted water to the boil.

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Add half of the cauliflower florets and all of the potato to the onions. Add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes.

Cook the rest of the cauliflower in the pot of boiling salted water for six minutes or until tender. Keeping the pot of water intact, remove with a slotted spoon in batches and place in a colander. Refresh the florets under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.

Cut the broccoli into florets and add all to the boiling salted water. Cook for about four minutes or until tender. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Set aside with the cauliflower florets.

Let the soup cool slightly, then blend with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy. Add the milk and salt and pepper to taste. Heat gently until very hot. Add the blanched cauliflower and broccoli florets, but do not boil.

Preheat the broiler. Slice the baguette into croutes and top each croute with grated cheddar cheese. Place the croutes on a baking tray. Broil for two minutes or until the cheese is melty and bubbly.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve topped with two croutes.

Broccoli au gratin

Melt cheese on anything, and it is elevated to the delicious status of "au gratin." I usually eat broccoli blanched until just bright green because it's so quick and easy. But with a little more effort, this is an even better way to serve it.

Broccoli au gratin

1 head broccoli
handful dry bread crumbs (I use Panko)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
dots of butter (1-2 Tbsp)
1 cup grated cheddar and parmesan cheese combined

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Trim the broccoli and cut into florets. Blanch the broccoli florets for four minutes, or until tender. Drain them and refresh under running cold water to stop the cooking process. Add to a casserole dish.

Completely cover the broccoli with the bread crumbs, paprika, dots of butter and grated cheese. Depending on the size of your casserole dish, these amounts will vary. Place under the broiler of your oven for a few minutes until the cheese melts into a golden crust.

Roasted broccoli and cauliflower two ways

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I have discovered two great ways to eat broccoli and cauliflower: Ina Garten's (Barefoot Contessa) delicious parmesan-roasted broccoli tray bake and a yummy, smoky soup inspired by the same recipe.

The tray bake made a tasty side to the sweet mahogany salmon I cooked the other night. I followed Ina Garten's recipe but with a few variations. I roasted a combination of broccoli and cauliflower florets instead of just broccoli and cooked them at 400 F for 25 minutes instead of 425 F. I also used toasted almonds instead of pine nuts.

To make the soup, I followed the first half of Ina's recipe to roast the vegetables, but then diverged into some happy experimentation :)

Roasted broccoli and cauliflower soup

half a head of cauliflower, cut into large florets
one head of broccoli, cut into large florets
one clove of garlic, cut into slivers
olive oil, generous splash
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
one onion, finely chopped
bay leaf
fresh herb sprigs - I used oregano, thyme and sage
parmesan rind
chicken stock to cover (about 2 1/2 cups)

Place the cauliflower, broccoli and garlic slivers on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over some olive oil and toss to coat. Bake in a 400 F oven for 25 minutes.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large high-sided saucepan. Add the chopped onion and celery and saute until softened. Add the aromatics: a few bay leaves, sprigs of fresh herbs and a parmesan rind, which will enrich the soup with a nice salty, cheesy flavour as it dissolves. Stir to coat the aromatics.

Add the roasted vegetables and garlic to the saucepan. Add enough chicken stock to just cover the vegetables in the saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Retrieve the bay leaves, thyme stems and the parmesan rind and discard them. Blend the soup in the saucepan with an immersion blender until it reaches your favourite texture. Season and serve in bowls garnished with a drizzle of olive oil.

Parmesan-encrusted broccoli with lemon

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I love broccoli, especially when it's crisp-tender like in my mom's stir-fry. When I was an undergrad, I bought a book called 101 Ways to Fix Broccoli. It's very sweet; the author Betty Price developed 101 recipes for her dad who wanted to eat broccoli every day after being diagnosed with cancer.

These days, my favourite way to fix broccoli is according to chef Tyler Florence's recipe in Tyler's Ultimate. It's crunchy and covered in a crispy, salty parmesan crust.

One head of broccoli serves two people. I cut it lengthwise into four spears. I blanched them for a couple of minutes in salted, boiling water, drained them and plunged them into an ice bath.

I arranged them in one layer in the bottom of a baking dish and sprinkled over some grated parmesan, although you could use any cheese or a different "hard" cheese, such as gruyère, grana padano or fontina. I baked the spears in a 400 F oven for eight minutes, and then put them under the broiler for two minutes to brown the cheese.

Serve with a squirt of lemon. It will raise them to an even tastier dimension!