Say Cheese!, March 4, 2014

When discovering that you need to rid your life of gluten, the most straightforward way to get started is to clean eat. By that, I mean sticking primarily to meats, vegetables, fruits and the like while avoiding processed foods. The fewer the ingredients the better and the safer. Along with this transition, it is common to lean towards low carb since most wheat or grain products are highly processed and frequently have “long labels”. Prior to my current obsession with gf pizza, I followed this pretty firmly. Today, I am sharing my gluten free Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe. Yay! Wheat free, gluten free, thickener free! I normally make it after buying a helicopter sized bag of cut broccoli at Costco.

Gluten Free Broccoli Cheese Soup

3½ cups of water
4 bouillon cubes (or whatever equates to 4 cups with your brand)
1/3 cup of diced onion
5 cups of fresh broccoli (vary the chop size from tiny to chunky)
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese
3 slices of American cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano

In a large pot, bring water to a boil and add bouillon cubes. Bring down temperature to medium, add onion and broccoli, and let cook for 10 minutes. Turn down heat to low, add oregano and let cook for 10 minutes. Add heavy whipping cream and let cook down while stirring occasionally. Once it has started to thicken, add cheese and let it melt in. Stir together and let it continue to cook for 30 minutes or until it has thickened up to a desired consistency.

Clearly you can use chicken broth rather than water and bouillon cubes. You can also switch out to other cheeses that you like such as cheddar. I like my cheesy broccoli soup mild and thick. If you are anti-soup as a meal, smother a piece of grilled with it or if you can’t resist adding a carb, put it on pasta!

I’m not suggesting you make this all the time especially if you avoid fat or calories. I don’t. Cutting out gluten and most carbs is enough for me. Now, say cheese!