Friday, February 13, 2009

Roasted cauliflower and red pepper soup














This creamy, easy soup sustained me for a week. In terms of lunch, I mean. Do you all have soup thermoses? Because I can't live without mine.

I roasted a head of cauliflower (coarsely chopped), two red peppers (also coarsely chopped), a medium-sized onion (diced) and several whole, peeled cloves of garlic in a big oven pan. I drizzled a bunch of good olive oil on there, threw on a bit of salt, and cooked it, covered, for about thirty minutes. Then I cooked it uncovered for another ten minutes.

If you have a immersion blender* to match your beloved Kitchenaid mixer, this is really, really easy. Transfer the roasted veggies to a soup pot. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with one cup of unsweetened soy milk. Blend with immersion blender until kind of smooth (but keep some chunky veggies). Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then immediately turn heat down to low. Allow to simmer at least 15 minutes (or up to an hour), stirring occasionally. Add water if you want a thinner soup--but in this case, why would you? (I frequently prefer thin soups, but I think this one is best if it's thick and hearty.)

Roasting cauliflower really brings out something special in the flavor. It's just a really nice taste that doesn't come out when you cook cauliflower with other methods. And I'm sure I don't need to sing the praises of roasted garlic or roasted red peppers. All divine.

* Shown here, I believe, with daiquiris--which are clearly the most trivial and embarrassing thing to make with one's hand blender. Soups and vegan mocha milkshakes yes, daiquiris no.
** Just use a regular blender, or the pulse button on your food processor, if you don't have an immersion blender. If you don't have any of those things, how about an old-fashioned potato masher?

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