Cream of Vegetable Soup

I love a good, hearty soup, don't you?  This recipe is not only thick and hearty but gives you a full-day's serving worth of vegetables that even the kids won't mind!  Here's what you'll need:

One and one-half of a cup of low-sodium chicken broth

One-half of a cup of chopped onion

Vegetables:  Broccoli, Cauliflower & Carrots cut up coursely (4-6 cups cut up)

One to Two tablespoons of chopped garlic

Two tablespoons of butter

Two tablespoons of all-purpose flour

One-half of a teaspoon of salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

One Cup of Whole Milk

In a saucepan, combine broth, onion and garlic.  Add chopped vegetables and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cover and simmer for ten minutes.  Remove pot from burner and place half of the mixture in a blender and blend for thirty to sixty seconds or until smooth.  Pour batter / mixture in to a large bowl and then repeat with remaining mixture that is still in the pot.

In the same pot, melt the butter and blend in the flour and salt and pepper.  Whisk together until smooth and then add the milk all at once.  Cook and stir until mixture is thickened and bubbly.  Stir in your blended vegetable mixture.  Cook and stir constantly until soup is heated all the way through.

**NOTE** Be very, very careful and use caution when placing hot soup mixture in to your blender.  The extreme heat can cause your blender to crack.  It is fine to let the soup cool before putting in to your blender.  Just remember to hold off on the next steps until you have blended the vegetable mixture.  Also, you can substitute any vegetables that you desire in this recipe if you do not like the combination I provided - the basic principles are the same.

Enjoy!