Sneaky Veggies Soup

For some reason, people associate soup only with the winter. But, in reality, soup is a great meal option year round. It is hearty, filling and the liquid content in good for digestion... kind of like drinking a bottle of water, but with taste and chewing. Plus, when the soup is as colorful as this one, it basically yells "Spring!"

This week's recipe is excellent for people who have trouble getting in all of their veggies... and it's also great for people who "don't like soup", because it is really, really hearty.  It's cheap, fast, easy  and will last for a few nights in a row. (I promise I'm talking about soup here.)

The key to the soup is that it is made from whole vegetables which are puréed in a blender until smooth, so you are getting all of the vegetable kick, without having to look at them with disgust.

Roasted Broccoli Cauliflower Soup with Chicken
Gather:
2 heads of broccoli
1 head of cauliflower
2 tbsps olive oil
1 48 oz container vegetable or chicken broth
1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: rotisserie chicken pieces, or baked chicken breasts.

Method:
-Break up cauliflower and broccoli into small pieces and lay on baking sheet, dusting with oil, salt and pepper. You may need more than one sheet.

-Roast all vegetables at 375F for 15 minutes or so, or until beginning to soften
-Place vegetables into blender and add broth, pulse until smooth. You will need to do several batches of vegetables and broth.
-Pour all broccoli/cauliflower soup into a large pot and just bring to a soft simmer, adding juice from the lemon to taste.
-Before serving, add chicken pieces if desired.
Optional: if you save some of the broccoli pieces, you can add them to your soup instead of pureeing all of them. See picture above.

There you have it. Roast, blend, stir, eat. A simple 4 step process to get more vegetables into your system to improve your health!