Cream of Broccoli Soup

Never-ending windy-rainy weather out there this week, calls for some easy, warm, creamy soup to end the day. You can add cooked, diced chicken and/or cheese as seen in the second picture for more protein, but it's just super-sensational as is, in my opinion.


I just noticed the picture looks like the broccoli is just thrown on the counter...but that's a cutting board.


What you need:
2 C. broccoli, steamed and chopped
6 T. butter
6 T. flour (For gluten-free: 3 T. cornstarch or 6 T. GF flour or rice flour)
1 pint milk (2 C.)
1 pint half-and-half (2 C.)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. seasoned salt or regular salt (Johnny's Seasoning Salt used here)
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 cubes/tsp. vegetable bouillon (if you're gluten-free, check ingredients label. I had run out of veggie, so we used chicken and it tasted great.)

How you make it:

Steam broccoli until tender (15 minutes)

Over low heat, melt the butter. Add the flour or cornstarch, mixing it in. This makes a roux. With a wisk, blend in the milk and half-and-half. Add the bay leaf, salt, and pepper, cooking/stirring until thick. While thickening, add the bouillon.*

Discard the bay leaf. Using half of the broccoli, purée with cooked mixture in the blender. Chop the remainder of the broccoli and add to the soup.
(If using the gluten-free options, depending on what kind of thickener, you used, it may be too thick for your liking. You can add a small amount of water to thin if desired. Gluten-free flours are not all created equal, so you may have to try and see.)

Since we topped it with cooked, diced chicken and grated cheddar tonight, it only needed a serving of red and green grapes on the side for a nice warm and refreshing meal.
Of course, before a certain oldest son decided we were torturing him with broccoli in purée form....but that is another story. The adults in the house were delighted and there remained but one bowl left for Mr. Wonderful to take for lunch tomorrow. The end.

*Note, if you are gluten-free, and need canned cream soups for various recipes, but can't use the store-bought kind because of the wheat flour, the red paragraph of this recipe is the how-to for making a substitute. Minus the bay leaf. Using chicken bouillon for the cream of chicken soup substitute, of course. So, if you know you will be needing that for a later recipe, I suggest making a double portion of the cream soup base and taking out half for the later need.