Puréed Broccoli Soup

 

I don’t know what you did over the weekend, but for me, it was a weekend of wild discovery. One of the things I discovered was that I own a blender. Seriously, I did not know. I happened to be rummaging around in a kitchen cabinet that I tend to avoid due to its chaotic nature, and found a blender container. I wondered why I had this container with a strange lid until I realized that it goes with my mini ninja chopper (that I have had for about 15 years). What a surprise!

This discovery was quite fortuitous because I also became acquainted with the absolutely delightful Kevin Lee Jacobs and his YouTube channel by the same name. From there, I discovered that Gordon Ramsay wasn’t quite the jerk that I thought he was, and, finally, from there I discovered the pure deliciousness of broccoli purée soup (which is where the blender came in).

I was looking for a new way to prepare broccoli, and that’s how I found Kevin. Kevin made a broccoli purée that he made look wonderful, attributing his find to Gordon Ramsay. I knew that I had to give this a go because it seemed like the perfect starter for a St. Patrick’s Day meal. Once I found that I did indeed own a blender, the rest is history.

There really isn’t much of a recipe for the soup, although I’ll try to write one up below. I tend to always use a bit of nutmeg when I’m working with any type of cruciferous vegetable (or spinach), so I added some here, making this recipe my own. Essentially, you just cook broccoli, blend it up with a little of the cooking water, season it, and serve. What could be simpler than that?Puréed Broccoli Soup

1 large head broccoli
6-7 c. cold water
1 T. sea salt
4 gratings fresh nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium stock pot, add salt to water, and bring to a rolling boil. While water is heating, cut florets off of the head of broccoli, rinse well, and drain. Once water has reached a boil, put all of the broccoli in at once, and set a timer for four minutes. When the four minutes are up, drain the broccoli, but reserve 2 cups of the broccoli water. Place drained broccoli into a blender, add the nutmeg and a half cup of the broccoli water, and purée. Add more water, as needed, to reach the desired texture. That’s it!

You can top it with a swirl of heavy cream or a little dollop of sour cream (as I did) and a few gratings of cracked pepper. Gordon Ramsay serves his with a slice of goat cheese at the bottom, so I suppose you could do that as well. Personally, I thought it was perfect as is.

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Creamy Olive Dressing

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I eat a lot of salad; I think I get that from my dad. There was not a day that would go by that he didn’t have a salad. Those, and his martinis, are probably what led to his long life. He chalked it up to clean living, but who knows? (Insert wry smile.) Unlike my dad, I don’t have bottles of salad dressing stacked up in my fridge like cord wood as he did. No, I make my dressing fresh. One thing that makes homemade salad dressing super easy is having a mini ninja blender. If you don’t have one of these, you need to get one. It has a multitude of uses, of course, but it makes brilliant salad dressing. When you use this blender to make salad dressing it will stay emulsified no matter how long you keep it in the fridge. No more shaking in the hopes of returning it to the wonderfully blended state that it was initially, it stays that way. This creamy flavorful dressing will delight olive lovers. If one of them happens to be you, you must try this. It is equally as good on a green salad as it is in a pasta salad.

Creamy Olive Dressing

½ c. mayonnaise

½ c. sour cream

1 garlic clove, halved

¼ c. roughly chopped parsley

1 T. chopped scallion (1 medium)

1½ T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1½ T. olive oil

1/3 c. ripe (black) olives, drained

1/3 c. Kalamata olives, drained

1/8 - 1/4 t. kosher salt

Few gratings freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients into a blender (I use a mini ninja blender) and process until smooth. Keeps in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.

 

Everything but the Bagel Salad Dressing

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There are two spice blends that I am absolutely obsessed with; I buy both in the biggest jars possible, and replenish them quite often. The first is Montreal Steak Seasoning, an excellent combination of ingredients that true, works wonderfully well on steaks, but also enhances everything that it comes into contact with from scrambled eggs to soups to salads to vegetables to casseroles, you name it. I have a similar love for the Everything But the Bagel Seasoning. My favorite way to use it is indeed, on top of a schmear of cream cheese on a bagel, but it works well in many other things including dips (hot and cold), spreads, vegetables, baked potatoes, and in the salad dressing below. There’s nothing better than homemade salad dressing, don’t buy the bottle version...EVER! The latter contains all kinds of terrifying ingredients to allow it to last a long time, unopened, on your shelf, or opened in the fridge. Invest in a little ninja chopper and use it for making dressing. It’s a snap to throw your fresh ingredients into this little blender, and it emulsifies like a dream. And once this chopper emulsifies, that dressing never separates.

Everything but the Bagel Salad Dressing

Adapted from EverydayIrene

 ¼ c. Dijon mustard

3 T. raw honey

¼ c. apple cider vinegar

¼ c. olive oil

1 T. Everything Bagel Seasoning

1 - 2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

 Place all ingredients into the work bowl of a mini food processor or ninja blender. (I have this one and love it.) Blend for 20 to 30 seconds. Your delicious fresh dressing is ready to be used. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.