Broccoli Cheese Soup

First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who were so greatly affected by the tragedy of 9/11.  I will never forget watching the second plane hit while I was in my 1st hour class my senior year of high school.  I've been to ground zero and it was an unforgettable experience to say the least.

Second, don't forget to enter out Halloween banner giveaway!  Go here to check it out.

Third, good old fashion comfort food!  Broccoli Cheese Soup, just looking at it makes my heart happy!

Are you a cheese lover?  You can bet I am! I put the golden goodness in a lot of my dishes and eat it on almost anything. (Except a hamburger, I know I'm crazy!) I wish the stuff wasn't so darn expensive!  Anyway, cheese is amazing.  Then if you combine it with my favorite vegetable, broccoli, we've got something special.  This soup is a sure fire way to make me happy.  This is a great meal to serve on those cool fall days or the chilly winter ones that are right around the corner.  I'm also trying to add more meatless meals to our menu and this one is high on the list.

Here's what you'll need:

2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 to 1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup flour
5 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups broccoli flowerets (I like to make my pretty darn small)
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese (you can use any strength of cheese you like but sharp gives you more bang for your buck!)

To start, you'll need to melt the butter in at least a 4 quart pot.  Next add in the onion and saute it for about 5 minutes.  Now, stir in the flour and half of the milk, mix this combination well.  Then add the rest of the milk, salt, mustard, basil, Worcestershire sauce and pepper.  Make sure you stir all that good stuff well.  Finally the broccoli gets to join in the fun, add all 3 cups.  Over medium heat, bring the milk close to the boiling point.  Let the soup cook for 20 minutes.  You have to be careful not to let the milk scald so stir fairly often.  Now, for the best part, add the cheese!  You're almost there and it's going to be well wroth the wait!  All you have to do is stir in the cheese well and wait for it to melt, give it 5 minutes or so. 

There you go, easy cheesy!   I usually serve this with some sort of bread to make the meal a little more filling, this time it was breadsticks.

Enjoy!