I was visiting my mom in Toronto a few weeks ago, and, as I was rummaging through her fridge, (because isn’t that what we all do when we go home to mom?), I was struck by the revelation that this woman, who lives alone, has a fridge stocked to feed a large army.

My mom is the condiment queen. All the shelves on the fridge door, as well as the entire top shelf are filled with jars and bottles. There are at least 6 jars of mustard (dijon, honey, yellow, spicy, brown and whole grain) and 5 bottles of hot sauce in varying intensity of heat, from wimpy to incendiary. And who needs 3 half-full bottles of hoisin and oyster sauce and 4 bottles, of soy sauce with varying levels of saltiness?

The produce drawers are packed with every kind of fruit and vegetable you could ever want. I was pleased to see that she finally keeps tomatoes on the counter now, after years of storing them in the fridge. And don’t even get me started on the tupperware containers of unidentifiable leftovers.

When I asked her why she has so much food in the fridge, she answered me quite simply, “Just in case.” To be fair, she has 6 children and 14 grandchildren (or snowflakes, as she likes to call them) and they are always stopping by for a quick visit and of course, a snack or meal. She wants to be sure that she has everyone’s favourites.

She has an additional fridge and freezer in the garage with back-up stock. The freezer is packed with ice cream novelty snacks that the older grandkids help themselves to, late in the evening, on their way home from a night out with friends.

I would be remiss if I forgot to tell you about the candy cart in the kitchen. It is a repurposed bar cart, filled with over 24 clear glass jars of candy, nuts and chocolate treats. She goes to Bulk Barn every few weeks to buy refill stock. She is diabetic and never touches any of it. My weakness is the sour jube jube jar, which I dump out onto the counter, pick out the red, green and purple ones, and then stuff the yellow and orange ones back into the jar.

I discovered a jar of bright green soup, at the back of the second shelf. My mom identified it as a Broccoli Coconut Milk soup that my sister, Bo, made a few days ago. I sniffed it, deemed it safe to eat and heated it up for our lunch. It was so good!

Vibrant and flavourful, this creamy soup is a nutrient-dense powerhouse. Here is how I recreated it. I started with some chopped shallots, because, for some reason, they don’t make me cry when I chop them, and I love their delicate flavour. But you could certainly use an onion if that’s what you have on hand.

I added some garlic and a jalapeno pepper for a bit of heat. Feel free to omit if that’s too spicy for you. Add one large head of chopped broccoli, including the stems (just peel and slice them). I used chicken broth, but water or vegetable broth would work as well, and about one cup of coconut milk. Use the full fat one please.

Simmer until the broccoli is very tender. The soup will look quite grey at this point, but fear not. Add in a bunch of spinach and a small handful of cilantro. I really like the bright citrus note that cilantro adds but if you’re a hater, leave it out. When blended, the soup turns the most vibrant green colour. You’ll feel healthy just looking at it.

Garnish the soup with any or all of the following: toasted coconut flakes, spinach leaves, crispy fried shallots, cashews and steamed broccoli florets.