Creamy cauliflower soup

Recipes: Creamy cauliflower soup

This recipe gives a shout-out to Ree Drummond, who cooks and writes under the blog name The Pioneer Woman. I took her recipe, which was great, and tweaked it a bit for my tastes and for the appetites of two for dinner. It's also a nod to Autumn, and Winter which is just around the corner. Some of the things I love about Autumn and Winter, aside from warm fires and cozy sweaters, are the vegetables that grow best during this time in my climate - the cabbages, the chard, the cauliflowers, the kale. Mmmmm.

On a recent chilly evening, this soup paired beautifully with a roasted beet and butter lettuce salad.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

• A small cauliflower, or half a large one
• 1 or 2 carrots, peeled and chopped medium
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped (optional)*
• 1 small red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed and chopped (optional)*
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour (gluten free flour also works well)
• Salt
• Grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• Sour cream (or light sour cream) for serving
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

*I didn't have celery so I used a red bell pepper instead. I'd use one or the other, or both if you have them.

Cut the cauliflower in half and then half again, and cut the core out. Then roughly chop the cauliflower into 1 or 2-inch pieces. Melt one tablespoon butter in a medium heavy Dutch oven and add the chopped onion, carrots, celery, and/or bell pepper. Saute for 3 or 4 minutes.

Add the chopped cauliflower and saute over medium heat until the vegetables all begin to get soft, about 10 minutes. Add the broth and bring it to a boil. Simmer for 10 more minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small heavy saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook over medium low heat, whisking, until the flour just barely begins to get tan, 2 or 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk a little at a time. You will see it gets very thick at first, but it will thin out as you keep whisking and adding milk until it has all been added. Then add the half and half. Whisk occasionally over medium heat until it gets a little thicker, about 8 minutes. This is called "making a white sauce", but don't let it scare you. It's just as easy as it sounds.

Add a tiny bit of nutmeg and the curry powder and cayenne to the white sauce. Then stir the white sauce into the soup and simmer it for a few minutes. Add salt to taste and pepper if you think it's needed.

Serve this delicious soup in bowls topped with a spoonful of sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. Yum!