This soup will forever be the first "real" meal my daughter ever ate. As in, the first time she ate the same thing we were eating for dinner (at six and a half months old). I've documented the recipe below exactly the way I made it when Hannah first ate it, to memorialize the occasion.
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Creamy Broccoli Dill Soup
Notes: I use water here, but if you have homemade chicken or vegetable stock around, by all means use it. Also, this soups works really well with a zucchini added in; the zucchini makes it extra creamy. You can easily scale this soup up, just make sure your water just covers your vegetables when you pour it in.
Special equipment:
Vitamix or other high-powered blender
Ahead of time:
1/2 cup cashews soaked in filtered water for 3 hours (if you have a high powered blender, like a Vitamix, you don’t need to pre-soak).
To make the soup:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2-pound head of broccoli, leaves trimmed and tough stems removed, chopped
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
4 cups water or just enough to cover the broccoli
Sea salt to taste
To serve:
Smoked or regular paprika
Olive oil
Cooked quinoa or brown rice, if desired to make it more substantial
Homemade croutons (my kids love this).. Toast bread cubes with some olive oil and/or butter until crispy
Heat olive in a stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is fragrant and a bit translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for a couple minutes more, still stirring. Add the broccoli, dill weed and ground mustard and sauté for a minute or two more. Add the water, bring to a gentle boil, and simmer for about 10 minutes. You want the broccoli to be a bit tender (a little hardness in the stems is OK, particularly if you have a high-power blender) but still bright green.
Pour the soup into a blender, along with the cashews, and blend until smooth. Transfer back to the stock pot and salt to taste. I use about 2 teaspoons of sea salt if I start with water.
You can serve it straight as is, or drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with some smoked paprika and/or with a scoop of quinoa or some homemade croutons for a more substantial meal.
Enjoy!
