As promised, SOUP.

Golden Globes Sunday is a holiday in my book, so I wanted to make a great dinner. And by dinner, I mean the meal I eat at 4PM when the Red Carpet pre-show starts.

I intentionally did not call this “broccoli cheddar soup,” because while there is some cheese in it, the veg is the star in this recipe. So many broccoli cheddar soups are basically liquid cheese with a stray floret here and there. I remember trying to make that style soup once in high school, before I really discovered my culinary talents (HA!) and it came out like glue. Literally. We may have had to throw away the pot.

The cheese in this recipe adds flavor, but isn’t the main texture component. I even paid $1.50 more to get white cheddar instead of yellow to avoid having that signature cheese color.

In other news, why is white cheddar more expensive than yellow? Explain this to me, Harris Teeter.

Anyway, I was really happy with the Globes. Mostly that Brie Larson won for Room, because I loved the book and the movie was incredible. I saw it last week by myself at this cool little pop-up theater in DC.

I feel like there’s a stigma against going to the movies alone, but I really don’t understand it. The movies aren’t a social event. You’re not supposed to talk during them, and if I’m going to cry 16 times during a movie I would rather be alone.

And if I want to get myself a hot chocolate with some romantic latte art prior to seeing a film by myself, so be it.

Back to soup! I also made focaccia to go with this. I used Anne Burrell’s recipe. I was underwhelmed. Nothing against Anne, but it was kind of dry. It was great for dipping in the soup, but as someone who likes to eat plain bread on the reg, it wasn’t my favorite. Fun process, but how does it end up being dry? Do you see that oil?!

Broccoli & Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower

about 1 lb broccoli

3 carrots

1 sweet onion

3-4 cloves garlic

1 tbs Dijon mustard

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock (can be subbed for vegetable stock)

6-8 oz sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup heavy cream (optional)

olive oil, salt, pepper

Chop up the cauliflower and broccoli. You want to liberally season the florets for roasting. Olive oil, salt, pepper.

Don’t waste the broccoli stems! They’re going in the soup.

Roast the florets at 375. You want to get some color on the broccoli and cauliflower, but they don’t need to be completely cooked through because they’ll finish in the soup. Maybe like 20-25 minutes in the oven.

Saute the broccoli stems, onion, garlic, and carrots in more olive oil, salt, and pepper. We’re seasoning every layer! This is also where we add our secret ingredient- the one tablespoon of Dijon mustard. This is a must- trust me. Cook this combo for 10-15 minutes, then add in your roasted broccoli and cauliflower. Reserve a few florets for presentation!

Add chicken stock. I did one full quart and then about half of the second. You want just enough liquid to cover all the veggies, but keep in mind that we’re going to blend it and you don’t want the end result to be too watery. Add your grated cheese and bring to a simmer, allowing it to cook for another 15 minutes or so. The veggies should be tender by now.

Then we blend! I seriously love the immersion blender because it’s so easy, but you could go old-school and transfer it all to your food processor or blender in batches.

After blending, I added the cream because the GS said it tasted “healthy.” I don’t have a problem with this which is why I deemed it optional in the ingredients list. But of course it tasted better with the cream added. This is how the world works.

FYI, this makes a lot of soup. You could easily lessen the quantity of broccoli and cauliflower, keep it to one box of stock, etc.

But personally, I can’t wait to eat the leftovers all week. Maybe I’ll sneak a thermos of it into a theater so I can catch up on more movies before the Oscars.