3/4 cup raw cashews, water-soaked
2 tsp. olive oil
2 onions, diced into small pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
7 cups broccoli
6 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
fresh ground pepper

Begin with soaking the cashews. Take a large bowl and soak the cashews overnight. You can also boil water and put it over cashews and keep them in the water for half an hour. Keeping cashews in hot water works well if you need to make the soup in case guests arriving at short notice or something like this.

Adding to this - if your blender works at high speed - you can even reduce the time to 15 minutes. Take a large pot for making the soup. (Since we are making it for at least 6-8 servings and there is so much to put into). Add some oil and place it over the gas at medium to high heat. When the oil is warm enough, add onions and stir them for a few minutes (It takes around 3-4 minutes). Sprinkle some salt over the onions. Add the chopped carrots and the celery, and stir again for 5 minutes more. And then add the broccoli and the minced garlic. Partial cooking of vegetables will take another 5 minutes.

Now it's the turn to add water to the mixture. Do not add all 6 cups to the utensil. Keep 1 cup of water aside and put the remaining 5 cups in the large pot. Add in some salt and pepper. Keep stirring till the mixture boils. Once it starts boiling - put the heat to low, cover the utensil, and let it cook for another 15 minutes. Now, start making the cashew gravy. First, Take cashews, remove them from the water. Then to make the puree, put cashews in the blender, and add 1 cup of water to the blender. Blend them into a fine, creamy paste. Make sure there are no lumps. Keep the puree aside. Now, we have to blend the soup. You might need to do this in batches due to the large quantity of the soup.

Blend the whole soup. Once you make the puree of the soup mixture, add in the cashew puree or the cream prepared, and mix it all for a few more minutes. If you want to add some more salt and pepper, you can add them as well as per your taste buds.

Submitted by: kathys vegan kitchen