Cauliflower Love
Boy have I been cooking lately. Between our overflowing CSA box and us trying to cut down on eating things that come out of a box at home in an effort to be healthier to get Will back to normal, I have been making so many meals at home and getting creative. My latest love is cauliflower. Historically it has not been my favorite as my only memory of eating cauliflower as a kid was smeared in melted cheese (the only way my family seems to eat vegetables). But these days I love it roasted with a bit of curry powder, blended in a soup, and as of late, mashed. So here are two of my favorite recipes. I only have a photo of the soup as I was too busy stuffing the mashed stuff in my face to take a photo. But it looks mostly like mashed potatoes but less thick. I imagine that if you have kids it might be an excellent way to get them to eat a vegetable that’s healthier than a potato.
Cauliflower and Leek Soup
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1/2 cup leeks, chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped (any kind works, I used red above which is why that soup looks a bit darker)
a chunk of fennel, chopped (about a 2″ piece) – this is optional, I only use it when I have it on hand
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 cups of stock
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley
2 tbsp ghee, butter, or whatever cooking fat you like to use
2 strips of thick bacon – optional
Melt cooking fat in a large soup pot, add onions, garlic and fennel. Cook until soft, add leeks and cauliflower, stir. Cook for five minutes – the looks should soften up and the cauliflower will have some color to it. Add stock, stir and bring to a boil. Keep at a medium boil until you can press the back of a spoon against a piece of cauliflower and it gives pretty easily. Stir in the parsley and let the soup cool. While it’s cooling, cook your bacon strips if you’ve using it. I like them left a little fattier for this. When they’re done, chop them into small pieces and set aside. Blend the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Add bacon and stir.
Mashed Cauliflower
This is pretty simple and the ingredient amounts depends on how much you want to make. Chop the cauliflower and boil or steam it until it’s tender and you can easily push a fork through it. Drain the water and add either ghee, butter, or olive oil. I like to add a bit of minced garlic, sea salt and pepper. The best way to make these is to use an immersion blender, but you could use a regular blender as well. Blend until smooth. Fresh parsley is a great addition if you have it. If you eat meat, this goes really beautifully with pork chops.
A few people have asked me recently on twitter/instagram what ghee is and where they can get it. You can read all the details here and you can buy it at health food stores, or make it at home yourself. Personally I just buy a big thing of it at Whole Foods because it’s not that expensive. I’m crazy about it, as is Heidi Swanson, if you need a better endorsement.
February 28th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
love this! the difference between cauliflower that’s been prepared well that cauliflower that hasn’t, is astronomical. I didn’t think I was a fan until I roasted it with olive oil, red pepper flakes & a bit of salt. SO GOOD.
loving your posts lately!
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February 28th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
I make a very similar soup, it’s the best!
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February 28th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Mm, thanks for the recipes!
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February 28th, 2012 at 10:37 pm
If you love cauliflower you MUST try this recipe I found via Smitten Kitchen – Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart. It is absolutely delicious.
http://lapiestory.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-not-all-sweetness.html
I’m a fan of your blog :)
sonia
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February 28th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
I never liked cauliflower until just this year and have been eating it non stop. This soup sounds delicious and now I know what to do with my leek. What CSA do you have? We recently signed up for Farm Fresh To You, which I enjoy, but I’m looking into other options as well.
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February 28th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
We belong to Savraw (it was called CSA california up until like a week ago) http://www.savraw.com/. I like it, I wish they’d do less greens and a bit more variety (I’m running out of things to do with chard!), but it is winter so I know I shouldn’t be so picky, even in california! ha. I hadn’t heard of Farm Fresh to You, I’ll have to check that out. I’m happy with ours but it would be kind of fun to get one delivery from someone else to try.
Also, I eat leeks in everything! I use it like I would an onion. Love ‘em.
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February 29th, 2012 at 2:30 am
i made a cauliflower and cannellini bean soup last winter, it was delicious.
i’m definitely going to try cauliflower mash.
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February 29th, 2012 at 5:16 am
My family always cooked with ghee, so naturally it’s something I can’t live without. I’m going to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing.
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February 29th, 2012 at 7:32 am
I love cauliflower soups. Just like you I was not a big fan of cauliflower until I tried roasting it! It’s so so yummy!!! BTW roasted cauliflower soup is quite good as well ;)
And thanks for the info on ghee. We used to make something similar in my country but I was too young too remember the recipe.
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Kate Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 9:01 am
I’ve been meaning to try it roasted for the soup! I should have tried that yesterday.
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February 29th, 2012 at 8:01 am
Great soup recipe Kate! Going to try that one for sure. I love the mashed cauliflower and have been making that for my kids for years, they gobble it up. Another fav way is I toss it with a bit of garlic infused olive oil, spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with a good parmesan cheese and roast for about 15-20 minutes.
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February 29th, 2012 at 9:22 am
this would be so tasty with a fried green tomato/grilled cheese sandwich on the side. not sure what cheese…not the normal cheese of the yellow variety but with a little zing maybe!
and thanks for the info on the ghee. learn something new!
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February 29th, 2012 at 11:04 am
omg – i’m just reading this but I made nearly the exact same soup over the weekend too! the only recipe differences were no bacon and i was too lazy to take out my blender. srsly. ha. AND i believe I served soup leftovers with pork chops the next day. this month’s issue of sunset mag has a really good easy soup – white bean/ruby swiss chard. delish!
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Kate Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 11:06 am
I have so much swiss chard right now, I need to go get that issue! I don’t know why I don’t just subscribe to Sunset, I love it so.
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February 29th, 2012 at 11:48 am
That soup looks great! I get Farm Fresh to You, and I have been trying to find new things to do with all the cauliflower we’ve been getting in the past few months, since it’s not a favorite of either me or my boyfriend. I make a pizza crust out of cauliflower that is ridiculously awesome, but it gets a little boring to do that every time. I was making cauliflower puree/mash made with cheese, but my boyfriend admitted he didn’t really like it too much so I’ve been looking for new ideas since. We got a head of purple cauliflower this week, so I think I will make some purple soup! I also loooooooove leeks as well.
I also like this recipe for chard – it’s not the healthiest and chard is not really the centerpiece of it, but it sure is delicious.
http://pinterest.com/pin/167759154839268132/
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Kate Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
pizza crust out of cauliflower?? I must hear more about this.
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Sydney Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
It just may change your life…
(hoping these pinterest links are working)
http://pinterest.com/pin/167759154839268141/
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Kate Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
holy cow, this sounds insane.
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February 29th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Oh wow that looks delicious! Love the idea of adding a bit of bacon. Yummmm.
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February 29th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Your cauliflower soup looks so yummy! I’m going to have to try it next week. By the way, this is a good recipe for clearing out stockpiles of CSA greens:
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/basic_green_soup.html
You can basically use any greens to substitute for the spinach and chard. I’ve also squeezed in a whole extra bundle of beet tops into this recipe by adding just a little more water and it worked out fine. It’s a super forgiving recipe and there are many variations of it out there.
Happy cooking! Thanks for the great recipes!
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February 29th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
That soup sounds amazing and I love cauliflower! Thanks for the recipe!
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March 1st, 2012 at 5:36 pm
yummm. i think i just died + went to heaven. i love cauliflower, but never get to eat it because of a particularly picky eater in our household, so maybe that soup will win him over? :)
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March 3rd, 2012 at 8:29 pm
You can’t expect too much from me. It is a cut-throat business performance.
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March 7th, 2012 at 12:55 am
An inspiring recipe, looking forward to trying it out!
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March 8th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Thank you for spreading the cauliflower love. I made the soup yesterday night and fell head over heels for it.
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March 16th, 2012 at 3:51 am
Über cauliflower informiere ich mich regelmäßig. Danke also für deinen Blogpost zum Thema. Vielen Dank dafür, Ann-Christin.
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