Cream of Broccoli Soup

Dice the onion finely,<br />rnChop the broccoli into inch or so chunks,<br />rnDice the bell pepper to a medium size (1/2 inch or so)
Melt butter in a frying pan, on medium heat. Once it's melted, add the onion, whole bay leaf, and salt. Sauté until the onion is mostly translucent.
Into a large pot, add the broccoli, green bell pepper, water, and sautéed mixture. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until the broccoli (even the stems) are very tender.
Remove the whole bay leaf, and add the milk.
Then, purée the soup. I find using a handheld immersion blender works wonderfully, but you can also do this with a regular blender or food processor, a bit at a time. Blend it to your desired chunkyness. (For me, a few large bits of vegetable here and there was pretty good.)
Mix in the sour cream and spices - the first time you make it, make sure to get the spices right, they make the whole dish!
Heat the remaining mixture over low to medium heat (not too hot with all that dairy!), but to the point of a bit of steam seems to work well.
Serve hot, and enjoy!
Notes: The taste in this soup is superb - it just seems to me like each bite has a taste so interesting it makes me want another one -- and by the time I'm done with the bowl, I'm full, warm, and happy.<br />rn<br />rnCarrot (puréed) might also work well in this soup. Moosewood reccomends keeping back 1 cup of broccoli, and using it finely sliced and steamed as a topping, but I just tossed it in, and it worked fine. You can probably even add more broccoli than those 5 cups without problem.

Ingredients

Preparation