One of the neutrals

Cheesy Broccoli Soup
The New Holly Clegg Trim & Terrific Cookbook Copyright 2002, 2006

1 tablespoon margarine
1 onion, chopped
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups fat-free canned chicken broth I used low-sodium organic chicken broth
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1 ½ cups skin milk
4 ounces reduced-far pasteurized cheese spread, cut into cubes
salt and pepper to taste

In a large nonstick saucepan, melt the margarine and sauté the onion over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Blend in the flour, stirring. Gradually add the chicken broth, mixing until blended with the flour. Add the broccoli, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the broccoli is done and the soup thickens. I didn't cook it this long - I left the broccoli a wee bit crunchy.

Add the milk, stirring until heated and thickened. Add the cheese cubes to the soup, stirring and cooking over low heat until the cheese is melted and smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
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This soup was a perfectly fine cream of broccoli soup - great texture and flavor, however it was not the least bit cheesy. Now, if I had an entire block of Velveeta on hand when I made this, I would have added more cheese, made a note of that and probably would have loved this but all I had was that 4 ounces, leftover from another recipe so I was stuck with a very un-cheesy soup.

Poor Holly Clegg. No one has heard of her. Well, one person. Supposedly she's been on a couple of the national morning news programs and she's contributed recipes to many magazines. She's written six cookbooks and has her own website. There's a press item on her site that says that WebMD named this cookbook one of the top 10 healthy cookbooks. Maybe it is worth giving away.

This is for Cyndi's Soup or Stew Thursday. I'd actually take a stew over a soup any day but there was no stew on the menu this week.

Blast From The Past: Spaghetti alla Bolognese from May 2006. I think I might make this next week but with turkey.

Question of the Day: How often do you eat soup?