Although I like soups all year round, cool weather always makes me crave more for them. Depending on my mood and my body’s cravings either I make some from scratch or pull one from the freezer.
Today was not an exception. The footsteps of Fall in the air… cool hues in the light … and more greys up in the sky.
So soup it is…
I’ve been trying to put my garden vegetables in good use lately. Moreover, whenever I go out I drop by at a farm stall just to see what they offer and hardly come back empty handed. So my fridge needed a break and I needed a good soup.
One of my favourite soup is Cream of Cauliflower soup. The buttery texture of cauliflower meets the richness of cream and voila! So French, so warm, so rich…
However, I am working on Paleo and AIP recipes lately and I wanted to this opportunity to give the cauliflower soup another identity.
Creamy yet dairy free… A delicate sweetness that lingers till the end and a bold umami that surrounds it.
Yes, I am talking about a soup…. And no, I am not crazy…
The following recipe is good for 8-10 servings. If you are into freezing for a week night meal just go with the full batch, if not go with half.
Loaded Chunky Cauliflower Soup
Creamy yet dairy free… A delicate sweetness that lingers till the end and a bold umami that surrounds it.
Ingredients
- 1 big head (or 2 small heads) of Cauliflower, separated into small florets *
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, Ghee or Tallow
- 1 big Onion, diced
- 5 stalks of Celery, diced small
- 5 medium Carrots, multicolour if possible, diced small
- 1 medium Zucchini, diced
- 1 small Yam, diced
- 1 cup diced broccoli stalk and kale stems (optional)
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 cups Bone Broth, Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- 4 cups hot water
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground Black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper (omit for AIP)
- 1/4 cup chopped mint and chives, for garnish (optional)***
Directions
- Step 1 Put the fat/oil on a heavy button pot then add onions, carrots, celery, broccoli stalks and kale stems
- Step 2 Set the heat to medium low and sauté the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Step 3 Then add cauliflower, zucchini, yam, salt and pepper and continue to sauté until cauliflower florets are fork tender
- Step 4 Add minced garlic and sauté for one more minute.
- Step 5 Then pour in the stock and 2 cups of hot water and simmer until all the vegetables are soft.
- Step 6 Pure half of the soup in a blender, blend until very smooth and pour back into the pot.**
- Step 7 Turn off the heat.
- Step 8 Garnish with chopped mint and chives.
- Step 9 Enjoy
* If you have time to spend in the kitchen and you think that cooking have meditative components go and cut your cauliflower heads into small florets. However if you are a busy mom, with lots of balls up in the air or see cooking as something to get over with then toss the heads into a food processor and voila.
** The level of creaminess or chunkiness is all yours to decide. If you want to go for a completely pureed soup blend it all. If you find yourself leaned more to the chunkiness then go with only pureeing 1/3 of it.
*** A simple garnish of chopped mint and chives will take the soup to one level ahead. You can also use basil pesto sauce or if you are not following AIP go for a drizzle of sriracha.
This Chunky Cauliflower soup is loaded with vegetables. This humble soup not only offers lots of nutritional benefits from a variety of vegetables but also with its high fibre content helps with natural detoxification of the body and also with digestive health.
What’s more its all Paleo and AIP
Enjoy …..
