Recipe: Lynn’s Hot or Cold Cauliflower Soup

By now you know I do not consider myself a cook, much less a chef. Nonetheless, occasionally I’m inspired by some odd happening, to make a dish that actually requires a stove.

The other night, inspiration struck by way of a giant head of cauliflower my son-in-law was given by a neighbor.

It had sat for a few days in the fridge, looking exceedingly healthy, but forlorn. Every time I opened the vegetable drawer I thought, “Someone should do something with that.” Eventually it hit me that if I waited for someone else to whip up a cauliflower souffle or cauliflower muffins or even sauteed cauliflower, I’d be waiting forever.

I decided to turn it into soup.

If I’m going to cook, soups top my list for a few reasons. For one thing, they are hard to mess up (even if like me, you rarely have everything a recipe calls for on hand and refuse to run to the store for an ingredient or two that don’t appear to be that important, and anyway, you consider recipes more a guide than a mandate.)

If a soup doesn’t taste great, you can always add a pinch of an herb or spice you do have on hand (and that you like), a few strips of bacon or a cup of sour cream which in my opinion never fails to turn the tasteless into the sublime. (And believe me, I won’t be insulted if you feel the need to do any of the above when following my “sorta recipe.”)

The reason I’m posting the instructions is because the grandgirls devoured theirs as if they hadn’t eaten in a week and asked for thirds! And when I tweeted about that, several people wanted the recipe.

Since I make things up and don’t know the exact amounts I used, consider this a general outline rather than a bonified recipe!

Lynn’s Cauliflower Soup

Use organic, local ingredients when available.

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower

3 large carrots

4 stalks celery

2 onions (I like onions)

Parsley

Grapeseed oil

Vegan vegetable bouillon (I use Rapunzel brand with sea salt and herbs)

Tumeric

Fresh garlic

Dollop sour cream

How to

1. Chop all vegetables except cauliflower, into 1/4″ pieces. (I do it in a Cuisinart. May be cheating but who has time to sharpen knives. Mine don’t cut through sour cream!) Cut cauliflower into approximately 2″ pieces. (In other words, fairly large.)

2. Saute onion in oil, stirring occasionally, until caramelized. (If I knew how long this takes, believe me, I’d tell you but I don’t. I just watch it until it’s just about to burn, then I know it’s right where I like it.)

3. Saute carrots and celery as onion. Toward the end, add turmeric and parsley. (Maybe a teaspoon of the former and a few of tablespoons of the latter, depending on your taste. Or add any other spices or herbs you prefer. We’re making this up as we go along, remember?)

4. Now saute the cauliflower until it turns golden (at least mine did).

5. Dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water.

6. Put all the sauteed vegetables into a large pot, add water with dissolved bouillon cube water plus enough additional water just to cover vegetables.

7. Bring to boil, then turn down to a steady simmer for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft, but not mushy.

8. Oops, with three minutes to go, stir in garlic.

9. Puree the soup. A hand-held blender is fine and saves you having to let the soup cool; you can just do it in the pot. Otherwise, allow soup to cool, then puree in batches in a Cuisinart (like me) or a blender.

10. Add a good scoop of sour cream (or a substitute if you’re lactose intolerant), or just a dollop on top of each bowl. Sprinkle with parsley.

Enjoy!

Notice I do not add salt or pepper. The salt in the bouillon does a fine job on its own.

By the way, this recipe is based on the mellow ingredients I prefer and those that my gluten-free, lactose-intolerant, food-sensitive family can eat. I’d love to hear your variations.

And also by the way, it’s just as good cold as hot! Why bother turning on the stove to heat it up if you don’t have to?