Cauliflower Soup

For those of you who know me well, you know I don't like vegetables.  It is mostly a texture thing but also a smell thing and sometimes even a taste thing.  I've never eaten cauliflower because it stinks.  I can't get past it.  So it was very surprising to me when I saw this recipe over at The Schell Cafe that I thought it sounded good.  What was even more surprising is I bought the ingredients for it, made it and actually liked the soup.  It was actually really good! Yeah, I must be coming down with something.  This is so not like me.  It is really crazy.

Of course in true Jennifer cooking fashion I could not just follow the recipe.  So I encourage you to go see Kristin's original version but I'll post my modified one below. I would have followed her recipe more closely but some of the ingredients I didn't have on hand (vegetable broth, flax or hemp seeds) so I made do with what I had.

Cauliflower Soup

1 onion roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs frozen cauliflower*
6 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 15 oz cans of chicken broth
parmesan cheese

Cook Onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes until tender.  Meanwhile defrost cauliflower in microwave - don't cook it just defrost.  Add cauliflower, red pepper, salt and pepper to onion and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes.  Add broth and simmer until cauliflower is very soft.  Use immersion blender to process soup until smooth (think potato soup consistency).  Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.


*I used frozen because I forgot to buy fresh and remembered when I was in the frozen food section of the store.  I was too lazy to go back to the other side of the humongo HEB to get the fresh stuff and figured the frozen would work just as well.  If you want to use fresh, use one head.

Tonight we were almost completely out of parmesan cheese and I was really trying to get the kids to try the soup.  So for the kids, I browned and crumbled bacon on the top of their soup and sprinkled with shredded cheddar.  I had a little bacon in mine but it was good without it as well.

I think this would be good with shaved ham or finely diced turkey smoked sausage in it as well.

The flavor was very rich and creamy and just delish without adding any cheese or meat.  Eliza Claire and Ruby both ate it.  Charlotte tried one bite. Rehm of course didn't even look at it much less taste it. So for our family it was a definite success and we will definitely have it again.

Enjoy,
Jenn