Cozy Cauliflower Soup

We are used to snow where we live.  We're used to cold, and we know how to drive on icy roads.  We're Canadian, it comes with the territory.  Today though...was absolutely treacherous outside.  We had a big blizzard, the roads were sheer ice, couldn't see 2 feet in front of us because it was a total whiteout.  School busses were cancelled, and I was home reading about how crazy the weather was and worrying about my husband making it home in the storm.  He had to work a couple hours later than normal to meet a deadline and would be driving home on the highways after dark (he commutes 30 mins into the city).  Well, needless to say, we needed some comfort food, and soup fit the bill perfectly.  I thought it would be a good time to take a few pictures and document my cauliflower soup recipe, because staying busy keeps my mind off my nerves!

This is my #1 Go-To soup.  Everyone in my family loves it, and I love that, because getting all 7 people to like the same meal seems nearly impossible in this house.  I'm telling you, it is the perfect blend of flavours, very pleasing to the pallet, and the best thing you can make on a cold, blustery day when all you want to do is curl up by a fire and warm your insides.  It goes great with crackers or bread, but my all time favourite side to serve it with is my Bomb-Digity Baking Powder Biscuits.  So here's how it's done...

Chop up your onions and garlic.  Transfer them to a large stockpot, along with a cup of water.  Water sauté over medium heat for about 5 mins or until onions are cooked and soft.

Next, chop up the rest of your veggies (cauliflower, carrots, potatoes & celery).  I used one large head of cauliflower, which ends up yielding about 9 cups when chopped.  

Transfer the veggies, along with the broth, into the stockpot.  The broth won't cover the vegetables at this point, that's ok, the vegetables will cook down.  Cover and cook over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, or until vegetable are tender.

Remove pot from heat.  Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.  Alternately, this could be done in small batches in a blender, but the immersion blender just dirties less dishes.  If you don't have one already and you eat a lot of soups, you need one in your life.  Just be sure not to blend the soup when it's over the heat, because the soup will continue to boil and can splash up and burn you.  Trust me, I speak from experience when I say, soup burns are no joke!

Stir in your spices, then add in the plant based milk and stir again (I like unsweetened almond milk).

Garnish with parsley and serve!  You won't be disappointed, I promise!

Serves 8.

xoxo ~ Lise-Anne {Plum Planted}

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Click Here for Printable Recipe

Cozy Cauliflower Soup

By Lise-Anne Michel {Plum Planted}

Makes 10-12 cups

Plant Based, Vegan, Paleo, Dairy-free, Sugar-free, Oil-free, Nut-free option.

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 c. water
1 head of cauliflower, chopped (about 9 c.)
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 c. (900 ml) vegetable broth
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/8 t. nutmeg
1/2 T. dehydrated parsley flakes
1 c. plant based milk*

Method:

1. Cook onion, garlic & water in a large stockpot over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until onions are soft.

2. Add cauliflower, carrots, celery, potatoes, and vegetable broth to stockpot.  Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

3. Remove from heat (this is important, so the soup doesn't splash up and burn you as it boils) and puree with an immersion blender until smooth.  Alternately, you could puree in batches in a high speed blender.  

4. Stir in salt, pepper, nutmeg and parsley until combined.

5. Stir in milk and serve.

Recipe Tips:
*I use unsweetened almond milk,  For a nut-free option, try rice milk or other nut-free plant milk.