Cream of Broccoli Soup (+ salad)

I had some leftover steamed broccoli in the fridge, and I didn't feel like just heating it up for lunch--I wanted something a bit more exciting. Enter "cream" of broccoli soup (I say "cream" because it was actually soy milk. If I'd had nonfat regular milk, that's what I would've used).

I started by sauteeing some onions in a little olive oil. Then I added some mushrooms and garlic.

After the onions had softened a little, I added a little zucchini to the mix.

Then I got out my chicken stock. I froze some of it in ice cube trays to have smaller amounts readily available, as opposed to having to defrost one giant block of frozen chicken stock in a tupperware.

To go with the soup, I made a salad. I made a weird dressing for it: I combined Greek yogurt for some creaminess, then added pineapple salsa and taco sauce. I was trying for a sweet/spicy/creamy dressing but it just ended up kinda weird. I think it'd be good for a taco salad, but it wasn't that great on a regular salad.

While the vegetables were simmering, I scrounged in the cupboards for a crunchy topper for the soup. There were just a lot of crumbs left, so I used these. They are quite possibly my new favorite kind of chip. In Baltimore, they are crab chip flavored. This does not mean they are flavored to taste like crab. (Side note: Yuck! Seafood-flavored chips? Reminds me of our trip to the bonito flake factory in Japan, where a lot of the high school boys ate the bonito chips like potato chips. Blech! And yes, we went to a bonito flake factory when we were in Japan. Don't ask me why.) It means they are flavored with Old Bay, a popular seafood seasoning blend.

On a funny side note, this is the clip that was holding the chips closed. It was a souvenir from our recent trip to Amish country in Pennsylvania. An Amish town called Intercourse. Ironic, no?

After I added the chicken stock to the pot, I then added my already steamed broccoli (plus a small amount of leftover roasted butternut squash to thicken it a little) and some S&P. Then in went a bit of milk for the "cream" part of the soup. After a healthy dose of hot sauce, I pureed the whole thing with my handy-dandy immersion blender, and voila! Healthy, homemade cream of broccoli soup.

Soup + salad = healthy lunch at home.