Bring it.

Irony = this post.

Why? Because the dish I am going to present to you today is not necessarily the most attractive in terms of appearance. And because for the past two days I've had a stomach virus.

And no, I did not eat this dish during the duration of my stomach ailment. In fact, I've been eating loads of white hamburger buns with butter. And Gatorade. And white potatoes.

Notice a trend? I don't even really feel like eating spinach. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I am not a fan of this.

So please excuse me while I go and eat some more bread and butter. But since you're here, you can look at these pictures of green soup.

I promise this soup tasted delicious atop some cooked quinoa. And it pretty much fulfills a day's worth of veggies.

Broccoli & Potato Soup with Red Pepper Cream

[Serves 4, generously]

Ingredients:

• 1 broccoli crown
• 2 small potatoes
• 2 stalks kale
• 1/4 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 5 1/2 cups water
• 1 bouillon cube
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup 2% cottage cheese
• 1 tablespoon milk
• salt/pepper to taste

For the soup, start off by roughly chopping the veggies.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat and throw in the chopped onion.

The onion should become translucent and should give off a strong aroma. Then add the garlic and kale.

When the kale has slightly wilted, add the potatoes.

Then add the broccoli and water.

Cover the pot and when the water comes to a boil, add the bouillon cube. Once it has dissolved, stir, then cover again. Cook for about 30 minutes. After this point, the veggies (particularly the broccoli) should be soft.

Take the pot off the stove and let cool. Add the seasonings and then using a handy dandy immersion blender, blend the entire mixture until smooth and creamy. Alternatively, you can pour it into a regular blender. 

Add more salt if necessary and the soup is complete!!

For the red pepper cream, blend the cottage cheese, chopped red bell pepper, and milk together. Add salt if necessary. I blended it with my hand blender, of course.

Drizzle the cream atop the soup and enjoy!

I mixed in some quinoa for a much more satiating meal. Oh, and this soup definitely does not need to be eaten warm! Especially on a day when it's 115˚F outside. And you know as well as I do that this is not an exaggeration. 

Bring on the heat!! I'm secretly (but not so secretly) a big fan of it. Except when I can't eat ice cream because of this stomach ailment. Le sigh.