Broccoli Stem Soup

I don't know if you celebrated Valentine's Day this week or not, but we ate our weight in steak and seafood.  We didn't lose complete control though - we managed to abstain from sweet treats this year, but I know many of you indulged in copious amounts of cream and butter and chocolate! 

Time to lighten things up a bit - enter the humble broccoli stem.  Just curious - do you say stem or stalk?  Anyway, my grocery store had a great deal on fresh broccoli last week so I bought a small forest and, after cutting all the florets away, I was left with all these lovely green tree trunks.  If I had just one or two, I'd cut them into coins or sticks and toss them in a salad, but since I had 1 1/2 pounds worth, I decided to make a batch of broccoli stem soup.  This is how it's made. 

To start, trim the dry ends from the broccoli stems, but that's all - no need to peel them.   

Chop the broccoli into 1/4-inch dice.  Onions too. 

Heat a large heavy-bottom skillet with a good drizzle of olive oil.  (this is the skillet I used)

Add the onions, broccoli stems, salt, and pepper.

Saute over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to caramelize.

You'll notice a nice brown layer of "fond" will form on the bottom of the skillet.  Mmmmm! 

Add chicken stock and scrape up the fond from the bottom of the skillet.  That's going to add wonderful flavor to the soup!  

Uh, you do make your own chicken stock, right?  No?  Try my recipe here.  It's about a gazillions times better than store bought.

Bring the chicken stock to gentle boil and throw in a whole clove of garlic.  Continue to cook for about 15 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and puree to the thickness you desire.  I like some texture to remain, so I used an immersion blender (like this one), but you could also puree the soup in batches using a blender or food processor.  

That's all there is to it.  A healthy, frugal soup that's gluten-free, dairy-free, and practically fat-free.  Want to make it vegan too?  Just use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• Maviel Rondeau https://amzn.to/3LjrbBP

• Cuisinart immersion blender https://amzn.to/3ryVnRp

• Nakiri knife https://amzn.to/3GvrBBz

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Broccoli Stem Soup

makes 6 cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 1/2 pounds broccoli stems, diced

• 1 pound onions, diced

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 4 cups chicken stock (try my homemade)

• 1 whole clove of garlic, peeled

Directions

1. In a very large skillet over medium heat, saute broccoli stems, onions, salt, and pepper in olive oil until caramelized.

2. Add chicken stock and garlic clove; bring to a gentle boil for 15 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and puree to desired thickness.

4. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Hot Ume Somen Noodle Bowls

When one of my daughters visited Japan, she brought home a package of pink noodles (ume somen).  The noodles get their lovely color from plums and they have a delicately sweet flavor.  The noodles are hard to find in the US, but if you come across them, do yourself a favor and grab several packages.  If you can't find them, you can make the same tasty dish by substituting white somen or buckwheat soba noodles. 

If you're interested in seeing how these noodles are traditionally used, check out my recipe for cold ume somen with spicy dressing.

For this recipe we'll need the noodles, edamame (soy beans), instant dashi granules, shredded crab meat, salt, and scallions.

Cook the noodles in boiling salted water - they don't take very long to cook so keep a close eye on them.  3-5 minutes is all it takes.

Drain and rinse to stop the cooking process. 

Although the leftover cooking water is a lovely pink color, discard it and fill the same pan with 4 cups of fresh cold water.

Add instant dashi granules to taste - they are VERY STRONG so start with 1/4 teaspoon and add more if needed.

Stir and bring to a simmer.

Ladle hot dashi broth into bowls and divide remaining ingredients between the bowls.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• somen noodles https://amzn.to/35QjQp5

• instant dashi https://amzn.to/2LiQjuK

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Hot Ume Somen Noodle Bowls

makes 2 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Ume Somen (plum noodles) or other noodles

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• instant dashi granules

• 8 crab sticks, shredded

• 1 cup cooked, shelled edamame

• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a large pot, 8 cups of water to a boil; add salt and stir to dissolve.

2. Cook noodles in boiling water, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes until soft, but not mushy.

3. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process; set aside

4. Discard the water used to cook the noodles.

5. In the same large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.

6. Add instant dashi granules to taste (I start with about 1/4 teaspoon or so).

7. Ladel hot dashi into soup bowls.

8. Add noodles, crab, and edamame to the bowls; sprinkle with sliced scallions.