Creamy Roasted Broccoli Soup

This soup, like this mushroom one, was invented out of a desire to make something a bit healthier than I'd been eating. Roasting brings out a whole new flavor in broccoli, and cumin, turmeric, lime, and cilantro also ensure that this isn't your ordinary cream of broccoli soup.

I actually tried this soup before adding in the pureed split peas to see which way I liked it better, and I'm torn. Adding just that 1/2 c split peas really changes the texture: it thickens it, but it can also make it feel a little chalky if you don't cook with enough oil. Overall, though, I liked it better with the split peas in, and that way it also makes it a complete fast meal. Adding them to the soup meant that it wasn't as spicy as it might have been... so you might want to add cayenne to taste or something at the end.

Creamy Roasted Broccoli Soup

Ingredients

1/2 c split peas

3-4 c water

salt

turmeric

*

2 crowns of broccoli--just the crowns (set the stems aside)

olive oil

*

olive oil

3 shallots, minced (or 1/2 onion)

2 tsp cumin 

4 cloves garlic

1/2 serrano chile, unseeded, minced

stems from the broccoli crowns, coarsely chopped

2 c veg stock

*

lime juice

cilantro

mint

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450*.

2. Combine the split peas, water, turmeric, and salt, and boil until peas are very mushy (40 min or so).
3. Break the broccoli crowns into bite-sized pieces. Toss them with olive oil and spread out in a baking dish. Roast in the oven, turning occasionally, for 20-30 minutes, or until they just begin to get golden around the edges.
4. In a larger saucepan, heat some olive oil. Add shallots and cumin and saute a few minutes, being careful not to burn the shallots. Add garlic and chile and do the same. Finally, saute the chopped pieces of broccoli stem for a few minutes before adding the vegetable stock, bringing to a boil, then reducing heat, covering, and simmering until stems are soft (20 min?).
5. As each of these three parts finishes, remove from heat and allow to cool. When cooled, combine in a blender and puree until very smooth. Be sure everything is cooled sufficiently or you will have a blender explosion.
6. Return soup to pot and reheat. Serve hot with lime juice, mint, and cilantro. Serves about 4.