2 lbs. fresh broccoli florets
1 cup shredded cheese (I used 2% Mexican blend)
1 cup milk or cream (I used skim)
salt to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the broccoli and another pinch of salt, and boil for 4-6 minutes--until the broccoli is easy to slice through with a kitchen knife. Using a colander or strainer set up overmixing bowl, drain the boiled broccoli and reserve the "broccoli broth." In batches, puree the broccoli in a blender, adding the reserved "broccoli broth" as necessary to create a soupy consistency, and pouring each batch into a large mixing bowl (or transfer into a pot or crock pot if you need to continue heating). If you like your soup a little chunky, you can reserve about 1/4 of the broccoli toprocess in a food processor. Once the soup is pureed to your desired thickness, stir in cheese, milk, and salt. Garnish with shredded cheese, bacon bits, etc.

Makes about 10 one-cup servings (76 calories each, not counting bacon and cheese).

**Variation: instead of adding cheese and milk to the soup mixture, you can serve the salted pureed broccoli all by itself and it's very tasty! You can also garnish the plain broccoli soup with goat cheese, walnuts, and a light drizzle of olive oil for a fancier dish.

served by Tanya Martin on 3/29/08