Broccoli Cheese Soup

Now that I'm getting older, I've started branching out a bit with the foods I eat. Just admitting it right up front. Cause, you know, I've not always been a fan of veggies. Whatever you do, don't tell the kids. I think they might already know.

Anyway, is it cause I'm so old now? I'm not old. Not even 40 yet, not for a few more months. I have no idea what's happening to me, but in the last couple of months, I finally got brave enough to try the feared Broccoli Cheese Soup. I gotta say. It's still not my favorite, but I do sort of like it. So here we go with a recipe.

Original Velveeta recipe is here, but it's seen some improvement in our house, the first time it was made by David and I followed his lead when I took a turn at making it.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter
1/4 chopped onion
2 Tbsp flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 pound Velveeta, cut up
1/4 to 1/2 pound other kinds of cheese
8 to 12 ounces broccoli, cut up into tiny little bits (no stems! who even likes stems? this may or may not be a slight controversy in our house)
a little pepper, or a lot

Instructions

1. After cutting up broccoli, put into saucepan with a little water and steam until bright green. Set aside.
2. In large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, add onion and cook until it's soft. Add the butter and stir constantly until bubbling.
3. Stir in milk and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, constantly stirring. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 1 minute.
4. Add cheese, broccoli and pepper. Stir constantly until all the cheese is evenly melted.
5. Simmer for about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Why we like it

Warm, creamy, cheesy (we're Wisconsinites! we love cheese!) and we can pretend that it's healthy because there are a couple of veggies in it. The warm creamy cheesy doesn't quite overcome the fact of BROCCOLI for two of us, so just 3 stars for now.

P.S. I suspect it would be improved by adding a little bit of red pepper flakes when the cheese is added, but I haven't had the opportunity to implement that yet. Maybe someday.