Ok, so I’m a huge fan of soup. I love eating it. I’d eat it every day. However, I’ve always felt like there are not enough soup options out in the public for people like me. Sure there are plenty of delicious vegetarian soups out there especially if you live in a big city, but I’ll bet that the majority of — let’s just single out a common one — potato soup for example served in restaurants across the States include bacon or ham, and most likely a chicken stock. And what about the “veggie” minestrone soups with little beef shreds floating around in a beef stock? None of this matters though to a girl like me because every one of those soups are prepared with onions! Yes, you’ll have an extremely difficult time finding a soup prepared by someone else that excludes onions completely. Even if they didn’t put onions directly in the soup pot, the stock they used was surely prepared with them. So, if you’re sensitive to onions you’ll know they’re in there and you’ll regret having it — even if it tasted wonderful. Luckily for me I know to avoid soups outside of home and I happen to love preparing it myself anyway. So, my life will never lack soup… and today I’d like to share a bit of cauliflower magic with you…
Just the other day I was craving a cauliflower soup, we haven’t had one all year. I wanted it to be creamy, a little cheesy, and subtly curried. I came up with a recipe that was exactly that. I usually think my soups turn out to be pretty tasty, but this one… I’m still thinking about how delicious it was. It was a perfect comfort soup on a cold February night. We dipped peasant bread in it too, even better ;)
Ingredients used:
1 average head of cauliflower, when chopped about 5 heaping cups
6 cups vegetable broth
1 celery stalk
2 big carrots divided
1 heaping cup chopped mushrooms
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafetida
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 heaping cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Begin by preparing all of your ingredients. Measure out your spices and salt. Chop the cauliflower into small pieces, 1 carrot, and celery. You can wait to cut the other carrot and the mushrooms if you want, they will be added after the soup is blended.
In a large soup pot splash about a tablespoon of olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add turmeric and cumin seeds, and salt. Once the cumin seeds begin to brown toss in the asafetida, stir the spice blend together and add the 6 cups of vegetable stock to the pot. Add carrots and celery, bring to a boil. Add cauliflower and simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until all ingredients are soft and ready to be blended. During the simmer prepare the carrot and mushroom pieces, chop them to a comfortable size to spoon up in the soup.
Blend with an immersion blender or a regular blender if that’s what you have. Create a smooth blended consistency and taste for spice adjustments. Add vegetables and cook until they are how you like them. I prefer them to be a little firm, but not quite crunchy. Slowly stir in a heaping cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, mix until well combined. Ladle into soup bowls and enjoy with your favorite bread.
