Broccoli Soup

I'm sad to say that shortly after getting my bin full of goodness last Friday I got sick.  I didn't eat for nearly four days and after going to the doctor yesterday and hearing that I need to stick to bland foods for the next couple of days, I wasn't a happy camper.  However, not all bland foods have to taste bad, and bland doesn't necessarily mean flavorless, it just means little flavor or nothing that will irritate your already tender throat (such as in my case).  So I decided on a nice and simple soup.

For my first real meal in almost a week, I knew that I needed to use up my broccoli since I have an abundance of it from two bins now and figured I would try my hand at broccoli soup.  I started by sauteeing some garlic, onion and gold bell pepper in olive oil until soft and adding all of my broccoli and 4 cups of chicken broth.  Once this started to boil I took it off the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes.  Working in small batches, I poured the broccoli mixture into a blender and pureed until smooth.  The pureed mixture was added to a clean pan with cream cheese and shredded aged white cheddar cheese.  I cooked this over medium high heat until all of the cream cheese was melted.

To finish the soup, I garnished it with a little arugula (to add a bit of crunch and an additional flavor element) and some shredded cheddar cheese.

I have to say this soup was pretty tasty, it was mild in flavor but smooth and creamy.  This was also a nice light meal, which I feel was well within the rules of what the doctor ordered.  I only hope that I am feeling even better tomorrow so that I can start cooking again, especially since I get my new bin and now I really have a lot of catching up to do!!