Best Cream of Broccoli Soup

SMALL FAN used to like this broccoli soup as he could eat it with the toasted bread himself. Got this recipe from www.allrecipes.com and surprisingly it tasted really good.

Best Cream of Broccoli Soup

• 2 teaspoons margarine (I use butter instead)
  
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped (I don't have celery so I replace with half a carrot instead)
  
• 1 cup chicken broth (Don't have chicken broth on hand, so used 1/4 cube of the maggi chicken stock with 1 cup of water)
  
• 2-2/3 cups broccoli florets
• 1 tablespoon margarine (I use butter instead)
  
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I use unbleach white flour instead)
  
• 2/3 cup milk (can use formula milk for younger babies)
  
• ground black pepper to taste

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium sized stock pot, and saute onion and celery/carrot until tender.
2. Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Puree soup and return to heat. (I took some time to puree it till really smooth as SMALL FAN likes his soup smooth and liquidy)
3. In small saucepan, over medium-heat melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in flour and add milk. Stir until thick and bubbly, and add to soup. Season with pepper and serve.

I diluted the soup a little for SMALL FAN as he is used to the chinese type of soup which is normally clear and liquidy. By the way, this recipe can served 3 rice bowl about 3 adults. But for myself and BIG FAN, the creamy texture of the soup tasted really shiok. I serve this with whole wheat bread which I cut into small pieces and toasted it, so it tasted like croutons.

I have used this recipe to make pumpkin soup, spinach soup, corn soup, mushroom soup before, just change the "broccoli" to the relevant vegetables you want.