Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup

Post-Thanksgiving. The numbers: twenty-three dinners at $85 each = $1,955 in Thanksgiving revenue. Plus regular November orders = total November revenue: $6,200. SIX THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED. The biggest month in Sarah's Table history. The month that proves: the holiday model works. The holiday model is the future — not just Sundays but holiday meals, event catering, the food that people want when the occasion demands better than they can make themselves.

The Altima is dying. Twelve delivery trips in one evening killed what was left of its already-questionable transmission. The car that has carried me from Waffle House to dental hygiene school to Harmony Dental to Sarah's Table — the car with the dent that has been there for six years — is on its last legs. I need a vehicle. Not just a car. A VEHICLE. Something with space. Something that can carry twenty-three dinners without twelve trips. The business needs equipment and the first equipment investment is a car that doesn't have a dent in the bumper and a transmission that begs for mercy on the I-40 on-ramp.

The reviews are coming in. Not from Taste Nashville — from the twenty-three families. Texts, DMs, emails: "Best Thanksgiving we've ever had." "My mother-in-law asked for the cornbread recipe." "The pecan pie made my husband cry." The pecan pie made a husband cry. CHLOE'S pecan pie made a grown man cry on Thanksgiving. I told Chloe. She said: "Which one? I made twenty-three. I need to know which pie." She wants to identify the specific pie that caused the emotional response. Quality assurance extends to emotional impact. The girl is running a tight operation.

Kevin and Donna. He called this week. He said: "I'm going to introduce Donna to Kaden's routine. She's going to be part of this." Part of this. The this is: co-parenting, the Mitchell version, the version that includes drive time and phone calls and the manual that Sarah wrote and Kevin is implementing. Donna is entering the co-parent orbit. Donna is becoming family. Not legally. Not yet. But functionally. The functional is what matters. The functional is the table. The table has room.

I made leftover turkey pot pie — the annual transformation. Twenty-four turkeys' worth of leftovers (twenty-three commercial, one personal) became one enormous pot pie. The transformation of Thanksgiving into pot pie is the most Mitchell act of culinary recycling: you take the feast and you make it last. You take the big and you make it fit the everyday. The pot pie is the everyday. The pot pie is Tuesday. The feast was Thursday. The pot pie is the thing that survives the feast. The pot pie is us.

The turkey pot pie was already gone by Monday morning—Kaden found it—and I stood in the kitchen with a refrigerator full of odds and ends and the specific kind of tired that only comes after the biggest month of your life finally exhales. I needed something that felt like the pot pie but asked less of me, something I could make without a plan, something warm enough to carry the week. This broccoli cheese soup is what I made. It’s not the feast. It’s not the pot pie. It’s Tuesday, and Tuesday is exactly where I needed to be.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

4 cups broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 cup heavy cream
4 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Build the base. In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Add the liquids. Pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat—do not let it reach a full boil.
Cook the broccoli. Add the chopped broccoli florets. Simmer uncovered for 10—12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is completely tender and beginning to break down at the edges.
Blend for texture. Use an immersion blender to partially blend the soup, leaving roughly half the broccoli in chunky pieces. Alternatively, transfer about half the soup to a blender, blend until smooth, and stir it back in. You want body and chunks together.
Melt in the cheese. Reduce heat to low. Add the cubed cream cheese and stir until fully melted and incorporated. Then add the shredded cheddar in two additions, stirring between each until completely smooth. Reserve a small handful of cheddar for topping if desired.
Season and finish. Stir in the smoked paprika and garlic powder. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper. The soup should be thick, glossy, and deeply savory. If it thickens too much, add broth a splash at a time.
Serve. Ladle into bowls. Top with reserved shredded cheddar and a pinch of paprika. Serve immediately with a low-carb bread or on its own.

Nutrition (per serving)

Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup — The Pot Pie Is Tuesday, and So Is This