Recipe: Monica's Autumn Pumpkin and Broccoli Soup

This soup is super-easy to make, very healthy, and delicious. You only need one pot to make it. If you're a WLS person and need to focus on protein, you can either add unflavored protein to this or, as I did for lunch today, drop in two meatballs (or just add ground meat, tofu, or some other protein-rich additive.)

Ingredients

• About 3 cups broccoli florets, cut into mouth-sized pieces (slightly bigger than bite-sized)
• About 32 oz. (1 box) vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 cup onion, diced - but this will be pureed, so the dice can be very rough
• About 8 leaves of basil, chiffonade
• Allspice
• Nutmeg
• Ground sage
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Paprika
• Cayenne
• Liquid smoke
• 5 packs of Splenda

Directions

1. In your soup pot, sweat the onions to soften and pull out some of the flavors. Don't use any salt. The stock will provide plenty in due time.
2. Once there is some caramelization on the bottom of the pan, add about 3/4 of the box of stock to deglaze and begin the soup broth.
3. Bring the stock to a boil.
4. Once the stock is boiling, add the broccoli.
5. Add half of the chiffonade of basil when the broccoli turns bright green.
6. Let the broccoli cook until it is soft, but not too gray/dark.
7. Use a food processor, a blender, or an immersion blender to turn the broccoli, onions, and basil into a smooth puree. If you like chunky soup, skip this step, or just mash the broccoli a little with potato masher.
8. Add the puree back into the stock, and mix in the can of pumpkin and the rest of the basil.
9. Add all of the seasoning agents to the mixture to taste. It's important to taste as you go.
10. Mix in the remaining stock and let the soup reduce until it is thick and dark orange. It should smell like broccoli, but have a strong pumpkin flavor. It's a dynamic soup.
11. Serve with some protein. Or if you're not a WLS-er, maybe some crusty bread. :-)

Nutrition Information:
I've estimated that each 1/4-cup serving has 30 calories. It has very little protein--I am just saying none--which is why WLSers should make sure to eat this alongside a protein source.

P.S. If you use the veggie stock, this is a vegan recipe. Yay.