This might just be my sexiest, most interesting and unforgettable post yet… SOUP!!!!! Spicy vegan broccoli soup, to be specific. But one of the *cool (*terrible and very difficult for me to accept) things about turning 30 is that I can no longer maintain my steady diet of tacos, pasta, frosting and wine without slowly becoming Mama in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. So, to balance the foods I love, I’m now trying to incorporate meals that will help save me from an early death of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and/or an expanding waistline. For help, I turned to my friend Kim, who makes healthy choices on the daily and has a body that looks like this because of it (also, I think she boxes all day long. She’s pretty much perfect.) We watched the Super Bowl at her place, and the menu was literally all green: Matcha dusted popcorn, veggies and vegan dip, peppermint smoothies, and spicy vegan broccoli soup. And not only was it one of the best Super Bowls I’ve ever experienced, it was one of my favorite meals… The smoothies tasted like they were made with real ice cream (Kim shared the recipe here a while back), and the soup tasted like it was made with real heavy whipping cream. I consider french fries to technically be a vegetable and I loved it, even though every single thing in it was good for me. And that is saying a lot. I asked Kim for the recipe the next morning and she said she just cooks up whatever she has in the fridge and throws it in the Vitamix with veggie broth (which would not go well for me, unless one were interested in Pizza, Ribs + Cheese Soup). So, I adapted this from the ingredients she shared. I hope you love it as much as I do, and I hope you reward yourself with nachos and cake later for being good and eating this!

3 tbsp olive oil
1 32 fl. oz (1 qt) package vegetable broth
1 14 oz package frozen broccoli, cooked
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne (less if you don’t like it as spicy, more if you do)

Per the instructions on the bag, cook the broccoli in the microwave. In a saucepan over medium high heat, add in 1 tbsp olive oil and cook the chopped onions and crushed garlic. Throw the veggie broth, remaining olive oil, cooked broccoli, onions and garlic into the Vitamix/blender. Add in the ground pepper and cayenne. Blend thoroughly. Pour in a bowl, microwave for one minute, stir, then microwave for 1 more minute. Sprinkle with cayenne and serve! (If you want to make it non-vegan and more delicious, sprinkle some parmesan on it.) I will leave you with this: Tony says, “I don’t even like soup and I like this.” Happy healthifying!