I’m leaving for Mexico next Friday.

I’ve been doing very well at eating down my stores, but somehow found myself with a giant bag of broccoli and a huge package of cheese that I’m not sure I can get through. Mark this day in your calendar, that I have cheese I don’t know what to do with! 😀

Last week, I bought a whole pre-roasted chicken and turned the carcass into stock. I had planned to make chicken soup from the stock, but then realised that I had the perfect base for cheddar broccoli soup! I don’t normally advocate drinking your calories, but, really, a vegetable potage is the easiest way to offload tons of veggies without making it feel like a chore.

Stock day was Saturday, a surprisingly hot afternoon that was not ideal for simmering a chicken carcass on the stove for hours. But the hot work paid off and I was left, after some time in the fridge, with a bowl of very flavourful chicken Jell-o.

Normally, I wouldn’t use a recipe for something like this, but I’ve been craving Panera’s cheddar broccoli soup, so I looked for a copycat recipe and, based on the comments, picked the one at Averie Cooks.

I got to work on the broccoli soup this morning, starting by microwaving my broth to make sure it would liquify properly (yes).

After sautéing the onions and garlic, I set to work on the roux that would serve as the thickening agent for the soup. This was probably the most lovely roux of my life, silky smooth and without a lump in sight.

And this was even with the half broken whisk I was working with. I am well overdue for a new whisk!

I didn’t have any cream on hand, so I used unsweetened plain almond milk, which worked beautifully. I didn’t have all the spices recommended in the recipe, so I just added salt, pepper, and the dried mustard.

Once the soup base was quite thick (since the frozen broccoli would add lots of liquid), I added the veggies. I had an extra piece of celery left from my scrapped plans to make chicken soup, so it went in the pot, too.

To further thicken the soup and better distribute the veggies, I puréed about half of the soup before adding the cheese. Then I gently stirred in some Cracker Barrel extra sharp cheddar (Cracker Barrel? I must have gotten one heck of a deal because I always buy Co-Op!).

And tah-dah:

Verdict? Better than Panera. And I’m pretty sure I have my stock to thank for it!

I’ll be eating this for the next few days!