Healthy vegan broccoli soup, made with a creamy base of cashews and white beans and flecked with perfectly crisp-tender broccoli florets. Absolutely nobody can tell this soup is vegan!
Drain the cashews and add them to a food processor or blender along with the cooked potato and white beans. Blend until smooth. This may take a couple of minutes with stopping to scrape down the sides; add liquid as needed to help blend. Add the nutritional yeast, miso, and lemon juice, and blend to combine. Remove from the food processor and set aside in a bowl. There is no need to clean out the food processor yet.
Make the creamy vegan broccoli soup:
Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt, and stir. Continue cooking the onion, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant. Add the celery and carrot, stir, and cook for another 3 minutes.
Add the vegetable broth, and bring the pot to a boil. While you wait, add 1 cup of chopped broccoli to the food processor and pulse until broccoli is broken into crumb-sized pieces.
After the pot boils, reduce it to a simmer. Stir in the reserved cashew cream mixture, all of the broccoli, and salt. Cover the pot, and cook covered for 12-16 minutes, stirring occasionally (making sure to scrape around the bottom and sides when you do), until the broccoli is bright green and tender, or cooked to your liking.
Serve hot. Leftovers store well in the refrigerator for a few days.
Notes
Peeled and finely-chopped broccoli stems can also be added!SOY-FREE: Use chickpea miso.