Cream of Chicken and Broccoli Soup

Here's a great recipe to warm you up on a cold fall day. You can make a huge pot of it on Saturday night and keep it warmed in your crock pot so you have a meal ready for you when you get home from church Sunday. If you want a smaller meal, half the recipe. I'm feeding an army of men here, so it doesn't last long at our house. ;)

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken or 4 boneless chicken breasts
2 large heads of broccoli
at least 8 medium sized celery sticks (less if you don't like celery)
2 onions
3-4 carrots, shredded
4 TB fresh butter or coconut oil
3 TB arrowroot powder
1 quart chicken broth
3/4 cup raw cream (you can leave this out if you are dairy free, the soup will still taste good it just won't be creamy)
2 large garlic cloves
2 tsp salt (or more according to preference)
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Bake the whole chicken or chicken breasts until done. I use my cast iron dutch oven, but you could use a crock pot also. Cut up into small pieces and set aside, without the bones, obviously. :)

In a stock pot, melt butter or coconut oil. Chop up celery and onions and sautee in butter for a few minutes. Chop up the broccoli into medium sized pieces and add to the pot with about 4 cups of water. You don't want it completely covered, but you want enough water that the veggies will cook. Add shredded carrots. Cover the pot and boil until the broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally.

Once the broccoli is tender (not mushy), pour the cream into the blender and add about 2 cups of the soup mixture. Blend until smooth and dump back into the pot. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a medium boil. In a small bowl, combine arrowroot powder with 4 TB cold water and stir until it's not clumpy. Slowly pour it into the pot while stirring. Bring back to a boil and cook several minutes. Add chicken, spices and garlic.

I served this soup with this grain free bread recipe. It was a hit! :)