Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Back in the day when I first discovered Panera (those days were many years ago!), broccoli cheddar soup was my automatic order. My Panera palate has since expanded, more so out of a necessity to find something that didn’t irritate my dairy-sensitive stomach. (Read: now the black bean soup is my automatic order. I know. I’m wild.) I recently went back to Panera, and while I didn’t order the broccoli cheddar soup, I realized how long it had been since I last had it and decided to take matters into my own hands.

Now, listen. A note about soy and tofu: I’m one of those folks that touts the mantra of "everything in moderation." And I truly believe everything. Yes, I’m well aware of some controversial research about health side-effects of soy, but I’ve also heard stories about potential health-related side-effects of cell phone usage, and well, I’m pretty sure we’re all well aware how quickly cell phones are going out of style…

Plus, bottom line: I like tofu. Yup. The occasional soy works for me.

Now that we’ve got that covered, here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 package of silken tofu
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups frozen broccoli, thawed*

In a blender, combine your tofu, nutritional yeast, water, salt and garlic powder. Blend until thoroughly combined. Add 1 cup of your thawed broccoli and blend on low for fifteen seconds, or until the broccoli is broken into smaller pieces. Add the remaining cup of your broccoli. If the broccoli was in really big chunks like mine was, feel free to pulse your blender on low until the broccoli is your desired size.

At this point you can either set the soup aside to warm up later, or put it in the microwave or on the stove top to heat through.

Done.   

This makes about four servings and seriously took me no more than ten minutes (including the five minutes on high in the microwave). This is the kind of meal I have time for. Add some leftover whole wheat corn bread with a "gourmet" Agave Earth Balance to complement.

For the Agave Earth Balance (or whatever butter) just take a knife and blend a tiny bit of agave into a couple tablespoons of Earth Balance. It takes seconds and will impress your guests, whether it be your boyfriend or your new neighbors.

Oh yeah, and you know what else? Ross liked this soup. Mr. I-Don’t-Like-Tofu-It’s-Gonna-Make-Me-Grow-Boobs liked this soup. And I know what you’re thinking. I did  not  trick him into eating it. He knew it had tofu and he still ate it and enjoyed it.

That pretty much speaks for itself, right there.