There aren't really any good Vegan Broccoli cheese soups online. So I decided to see about making my own.
4 cups broccoli divided (1 head should do the trick) cut up into bite size pieces
1 cup Raw Soaked Cashews
3 T Lemon Juice
1 1/2 tsp apple Cider Vinegar
Onion Powder to taste
Garlic Powder to taste
Fresh garlic to taste
Sea Salt to taste
any fresh or dried herbs you like
Fresh ground pepper
Paprkia or Nutmeg depending on your taste for garnish when serving
Lightly steam about 2 cups of broccoli (3-5 minutes over medium heat with a steam pot or double boiler).
While you're doing that:
Using a Vitamix or like blender:
Blend together 1 cup of RAW soaked Cashews and about the same amount of water (enough to cover). Blend until creamy.
If you don't have time to soak the cashews, heat up some water in a teapot to boiling. Put enough water on cashews to Cover, wait a few minutes and then blend until creamy.
put Vitamix on lowest setting and start adding the following (this will prevent lumps)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (or more depending on how much you like the stuff)
1/4 cup of garbanzo flour or cashew meal or anything to thicken it up that doesn't have gluten
3 T Lemon Juice
1 1/2 tsp Apple Cider vinegar
LOTS of onion powder
LOTS and LOTS of garlic powder
I also added about 4 cloves of garlic
sea salt to taste
add fresh herbs to your liking - I had some fresh oregano that was growing on my window sill.
Added fresh ground black pepper while cooking.
Turn the blender on high and Blend everything above together until creamy - don't over blend - 1 minute should be fine.
Add the lightly steamed broccoli and continue to blend until the broccoli is blended.
Pour out half of the mixture into your crock pot and then add about 2 cups of water to the blender to blend the rest of the mixture together so that you have more soup - you can and should use the broccoli water from steaming. If you need to do this twice, do so, but use less water - use just enough water to make the soup to the desired thickness.
Stir everything up and taste. Add more of what you think is missing and stir.
Turn the Crock pot to LOW and cook for about 3 to 4 hours. (You can also use a stove pot, but you have to watch it and stir it. I'm never in the mood to watch my food).
After the 3-4 hours is up, Add the rest of the 2 cups of broccoli florets and cook for about another 1/2 hour more. Serve up hot!
Ways to make the soup more thick - add more "flour" and less water. All the ingredients are here to make a great soup. Tweak as you see fit.
