It’s Friday. I’m hOMe after a late morning yoga class, a few laps in the slow lane of the Chinatown Y swimming pool, a nice shower and sauna.
My mind is clear and reaDy to tackle the list of e-mails to follow up on as long as my arm but of course I was starving.
I could have opted to pour some organic tOMato soup into a pot from out of a cardboard box but something inside said, NO, make yourself a soup. I’ve got a half a head of organic cauliflower, 4 or 5 heads of garlic, 2 small yukon gold potatoes and vegetable broth left over from the tOMato soup I made for Alex last week.
I’ll also highlight the healing aspects of the ingredients in this velvety cauliflower & garlic pureed soup.
What you’ll need: A head of cauliflower, a head of garlic 2 small yukon gold potatoes, 1 C olive oil, 3 Ts of flour, 4 Cs vegetable broth.
First I cut the head of cauliflower into fist sized chunks that look like individual flowerettes. Short of the very course bottom of the cauliflower’s stem I kept most of the stem on each of the chunks. Add a good sized pinch of salt to the water you’ll fill a heavy bottomed pot that comes to just below the bottom of the steamer basket. Bring the salted water to a boil and steam the vegetable ingredients, cauliflower & potatoes for a good 20 minutes. I turned the heat off. With the top on the pot the ingredients continue to cook another 10 minutes or so.
While the cauliflower & potatoes were steaming I got to cleaning and preparing the garlic for roasting.
If you’re new to cooking and not so comfortable with a knife, leaving the inner green ’stem’ in a garlic dent if FINE. Many cooks don’t remove it. One chef I cooked with says the green ’stem’ can heighten a bitter taste in what you’re cooking.
To roast the garlic use the whole cloves that are slightly cracked from the initial smash to get the skin off added to about a 1/2 C of organic, cold pressed olive oil. Cook over a medium heat. You want to see little bubbles. Don’t let the oil get to hot. A gentle simmer is great.
While the garlic was roasting I pureed the steamed cauliflower & potatoes in my ordinary blender, no fancy Cuisinart. I sliced the potatoes into 1/4″ discs when I added them to the blender. I blended these ingredients in two batches adding about a cup of vegetable broth. This and additional organic vegetable broth are what I’ll add to the roasted garlic roux to make the soup.
With the garlic roasted, garlic infused seasoned oil and the steamed cauliflower & potato puree, I began to make the roux. This is simply done by mashing the roasted garlic cloves, adding the garlic infused seasoned oil and a small hand-full of unbleached flour.
I added about a 1/2 C of the vegetable broth to the roux to create the creamy stock for the soup, then I began to add the cauliflower & potato puree, alternating between adding stock & puree. Stirring all the while.
MMgOOd and you’ll feel great too and boy oh boy did I have a LOT from just a half a head of cauliflower.
Tags: cauliflower, cold press olive oil, garlic, health supportive, organic, puree, recipe, roux, soup, steamer basket