Creamy Broccoli Soup with White Beans and Yogurt

Name: Creamy Broccoli Soup with White Beans and Yogurt
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 bowls
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil; 1 medium yellow onion, diced small; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1/4 cup dry white wine; 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth; 1 can white beans; 1 pound broccoli florets; 2 cups baby spinach; 1/4 cup fresh parsley; sea salt; black pepper; red onions (to garnish); dairy or non-dairy yogurt (optional garnish)

A creamy vegan broccoli soup with white beans that comes together in under thirty minutes. A gluten-free, vegan cream of broccoli soup.

January 7, 2016

Before we dig into this creamy vegan broccoli soup, I want to tell you a story. For as long as I can remember. I have always been two things. A doer, and a worrier. And those two things landed me in a health crisis.

2015 started out on a high note. Chris started his new aviation career, and we moved to the Midwest to begin a new chapter in our lives. Our hearts were full of hope. And although I was reluctant to leave the East Coast, I was optimistic about our future in St. Louis.

Great things were happening. My blog was a finalist in the Saveur Blog Award. I started writing a column in Feast Magazine. My freelance work was overflowing, and I was traveling all over the country on media trips. The candle was burning at both ends, because I was born a doer.

Amidst this incessant desire to constantly do, I was never still. I was never still so I could avoid, the worrier. But through our transition this year all of the worry started to add up. It came on suddenly without warning, and it hasn’t stopped since.

A fifty-five day headache without a break or relief. Time felt like it was standing still. I saw a half a dozen doctors, took half a dozen bloods tests. And nothing. I eventually landed in the emergency room for more testing and the results came back clear. Stress, they say, is the culprit.

Three weeks later, although intermittently, the headache persists. I have accepted that it will not go away overnight, after one yoga class, or an acupuncture or therapy session. It will take time, patience and work. I am dedicating 2016 to self-love. It will also be the year of soup.

The best vegan broccoli soup.

There’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of soup. On New Year’s Eve I had the pleasure of cooking a meal for ten beautiful souls. It started with this bowl of this creamy, vegan broccoli soup. A bowl powered by white beans and ready in under thirty minutes. It is both bright and hearty, and I hope you enjoy it.

Through this pain there’s been tremendous light and growth. A radical shift in the way I approach life has been birthed not only out of desire, but necessity. The way I want to care for myself is changing. The way I want to talk to myself is changing. It will be hard to undo all the years of doing and worrying, and not good enoughs. Wishing you all an abundant 2016.

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