Spring Cauliflower Soup

I love this recipe so much — it’s rich while remaining light and fresh. It’s versatile — you can replace the beautiful cauliflower with celery root or carrots, even throw in some ginger and you’ll have a wonderful variation upon this theme. It’s also hearty enough to be a main course, which is great for a one-pot dinner.

This fresh recipe replaces the heavy starchy potato with the fresh and light cauliflower — but I didn’t use just any old cauliflower; I used an ORANGE cauliflower. This beautiful, vibrant orangey-yellow breed of cauliflower makes for a bright yellow soup rich with extra micronutrients like carotenoids, vitamin C and selenium.

Of course, you can make this soup with regular cauliflower, but I make no promise that it will be as beautiful upon completion. (I bet it will still be delicious though!)

The Fresh Herb Quandary

One of the best things about having a small herb garden is that you only pull what you need for your meal, leaving the rest to grow and flourish until your next visit. I used to waste herbs all the time before I started my garden. I’d buy fresh herbs, use them for one recipe, and then forget about them until I found them in a nasty soupy plastic bag in my produce drawer three weeks later. I’ve found a solution to get them to last at least a bit longer, which helps a ton in those months when cilantro and basil won’t grow.

I say all this because I chose the herbs in this soup not only for flavor, but because I had an abundance in my garden. If you don’t have an herb garden or other recipes planned for the week to use up the herbs I call for in this recipe, don’t sweat it.

Be creative.

Use a combination of dried herbs instead, or use only sage and see what you think. (Sage keeps for a pretty long time in the fridge too.) OR, even better, plan your week around using the rest of these yummy herbs in your meals. (I’d recommend trying a parsley pesto — you’ll use the rest of that bunch right up and it will keep much longer.)

Spring Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 large yellow cauliflower
• 2 to 3 cups veggie broth, water, or chicken broth
• 1.5-2 cups full-fat coconut milk
• 1 tsp EVO (extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
• OPTIONAL: butter or ghee
• 1 whole medium yellow onion, chopped coarsely
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
• 2 to 3 sprigs fresh parsley, sage, and oregano
• 1/2 tbs REAL salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Gently warm a large pot on the stove
2. Add EVO, keeping heat below smoking point
3. Add chopped onion and garlic (if using dried herbs instead of fresh, add them here as well)
4. Lightly saute until soft and onions are translucent
5. Add in chopped cauliflower and saute 3 minutes more, adding in small amounts of broth or water to make sure nothing burns
6. When the cauliflower is almost soft, add in the rest of the broth the salt, and the pepper — here’s where you add the fresh herbs if you use those
7. Let simmer for a good 10 to 15 minutes
8. Add in coconut milk and optional butter or ghee and turn off the fire
9. Using an immersion blender, blend until completely smooth (you could also pour the whole thing into a blender, but that can get messy if you’re not careful — make sure you have someone holding the blender still, especially if your pot is heavy!)
10. Serve in a shallow bowl and garnish with fresh parsley and a swirl of EVO