Potato & Broccoli "Cheese" Soup

Early TED

I ate SO horribly last week. Abigail had the flu so I exclusively took care of Noah while Hubby took care of her. We were concerned about a 4 month old vomiting and getting as sick as Abbie did. So that was a rough 5 days & nights as I usually split the nights with Hubby since Noah doesn't sleep good. Then on Saturday...Hubby gets sick! So needless to say...not much got done last week, no extra cooking like usual, and I'm still recuperating from the other two folks in my home being sick and hoping I don't get it myself.

Back to the food. I ate really bad last week because it was just a rough week and I had no time to make all my "special" food for me. I've learned that on the TED I need to eat a little bit of all of my foods to feel somewhat healthy. If I start to leave foods out or just eat whatever is easiest, my stamina and clarity of mind just disintegrate. I thought a soup would be a good way to combine a bunch of veggies and kick up my nutrients. This one sure did the trick, and it was delicious and almost "cheesy" to boot! Abigail ate all of hers, with much prompting as she's not a soup person, but she never said she didn't like it! Score one for Mom!

8 small to medium carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds
14 small red potatoes, large dice
1 large onion, chopped
2 heads of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 Tbsp. olive oil, + 1 Tbsp. for later
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Dari-free potato milk
6 cups of water
1 cup rice milk

In a large stockpot, add in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil and your onions. Cook over low heat until the onions take on some color. Add in the carrots and then the potatoes. Add in the water and cook until the potatoes and carrots are almost done.

Place 2-3 ladles of veggies in a blender, 2 ladles of cooking liquid, add the rice milk and blend on very low speed. Contents will be VERY hot, so be careful! If putting a lid on your blender, be sure and vent it so steam can escape. Meanwhile, place broccoli in the pot to cook.

Gradually increase speed the speed of the blender until contents are well blended. Add in reserved 1 Tbsp. of olive oil and 2 Tbsp. of milk powder. The Dari-Free thickens the soup and gives it a velvety texture. The carrots turn the puree a pale golden color. Return contents of blender to soup pot, and cook until the broccoli is just done. Turn heat down to medium and stir frequently, as it will stick on the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and adjust seasonings as needed. The milk powder adds a sweetens that might need to be further counteracted with additional salt and onion/garlic powder. I liked a bit of the sweetness in my soup.

It truly does have a cheesy look to the soup, and if your imagination is broad a creamy cheese taste as well!

Enjoy!
This photo got uploaded on accident...but it's so cute I'll leave it here! The reason I continue with this so very difficult diet...this little guy's happiness! Now if only he was like this all day and all night long....We still have so many very, very rough days.