I bought a cauliflower recently with good intentions. I’ve been doing a little a lot of anxiety eating lately as I sit here in California in Covid19 lockdown. My scale tells me I need to up my nutrition game. I know cruciferous vegetables are super foods. I like cauliflower. I was confident that I could find a unique recipe.
But then I got buried in the possibilities. Whole roasted cauliflower? Ottolenghi’s amazing cauliflower cake? Indian Aloo Gobi? Stir fried Cauliflower Rice? The possibilities were endless and I was like a deer in the headlights–stalled by too many choices. Then, the idea of a creamy and spicy cauliflower soup beckoned. Soup always calms me and feeds both my body and my soul.
And why not a creamy cauliflower soup? Doesn’t the healthy cauliflower compensate for the cream part? Sure it does.
This simple little soup has it all–spice, creaminess, and lots of cauliflower. It was love at first bite (err…slurp).
Here is the recipe.
- 1 large cauliflower
- 2 medium russet potatoes
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1/2 t. each ground cinnamon cumin and coriander
- 1/2 to 1 T. harissa paste or to taste
- 1 15- ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes
- 5-6 C. vegetable broth
- 1/2 C. toasted sliced almonds
- 3/4 C. heavy cream
- 3/4 C. half and half
- Salt and pepper
- Chopped cilantro and sour cream to garnish
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Cut the cauliflower into small florets. Peel and cube the potatoes.
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Heat olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Fry spices and harissa paste in the hot olive oil stirring constantly. This will take one or two minutes. Add the cauliflower, potato cubes, tomatoes, broth and almonds. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes until the cauliflower and potatoes are tender.
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Blend the soup but leave some texture in the soup. Add the cream and half and half. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Add more broth if your soup is too thick. Add more harissa paste (I used Trader Joe's brand.) if you want more spice. I enjoy spicy food but 1/2 T. of harissa was enough for me in this soup. I'm sure that depends upon the harissa you are using. (Harissa, for the uninitiated, is a hot Tunisian chili pepper paste. The paste has gotten a lot of attention in recent years and is now pretty commonly available in markets. There is a really special harissa that contains rose petals that is more difficult to source.)
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Serve garnished with chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.
Thanks Lorraine, agree with you, soup is best! I love that your post is so easy to open up, read and there’s the recipe, not forgetting the gorgeous photos …ray of sunshine, your peach pound cake! Thanks for all your hard work, appreciate you and loving Juliet , keep safe and well in this C19 clime
Thank you.
I appreciate your reading the blog and so appreciate your kind words.
Stay safe.