A Vegetable Soup for a Fruitless Mind

🎓 Post-PhD • 📘 History • 😵‍💫 Indecisive

I had many ideas for my first post but, in true academic style, I overthought each one: was this one too boring, that one too complicated, or the other too pretentious as an introduction to me, my life, and what I like to eat?

On one of those days, I found myself scouring the sorry state of my fridge for leftovers that could achieve three goals:

a) be healthy(ish), so I wouldn’t end up chastising myself for both my eating choices and my indecision;

b) use up ingredients in a way that felt resourceful and spared my wallet;

c) require some effort, so I could say I ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING TODAY (with visual evidence to ‘casually’ share with my husband, as proof of my natural housewife prowess).

By the end of this mission, I was staring at a bowl of food that represented everything this blog stands for: the inward places we go as (in my case, recovering) academics. So here you go. It may not be the sexiest of meals, but it’s as good a place to start as any—and sometimes, starting is our best achievement.

N.B. Past-their-prime ingredients are welcome here: my broccoli and gorgonzola were in a sad way, but neither seemed to affect the outcome. In fact, the hardening rind left on the remnants of my blue cheese made for added texture. 

Servings: 1            🥖 GF    🥕 V

Time:

👐 Hands-on: 15 minutes

⏳ Hands-off: 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the Main Dish

• Olive oil, for frying
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced (or a pinch of garlic powder)
• ½ head of broccoli, cut into florets
• Chilli flakes, to taste
• 750ml vegetable stock
• 50–100g gorgonzola, depending on strength preference (or any blue cheese; grated cheddar also works)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional Toppings

• A splash of balsamic vinegar
• A few basil leaves

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic (but not the garlic powder, if using) and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the broccoli florets and enough vegetable stock to cover them. (You may not need all the stock—I tend to use powdered stock and add it after the water, so I don’t waste the residue that usually clings to the bottom of pre-prepared stock.)
4. Boil over medium-to-high heat until the broccoli is soft (no more than 15 minutes). Blitz until smooth using a blender or stick blender, but note that you may not want to use all the liquid—reserve some and add as needed for your desired consistency.
5. Return the soup to the heat and stir in the chilli flakes and garlic powder, if using. Take it off the heat to add the gorgonzola (or other blue cheese). Once melted, taste and adjust with salt and pepper as needed.
6. Serve hot, with a splash of balsamic vinegar and a few basil leaves, if you’d like. If you’re using grated cheddar instead of gorgonzola, add it now in place of the vinegar and basil—unless, of course, you want all the things, in which case, crack on.

Storage

I tend to cover whatever leftovers there are with the saucepan lid and pop in the fridge once cool. It lasts up to about a week chilled but can also be frozen. Reheat thoroughly before serving.