Cauliflower and Mushroom Soup (No Dairy)

Here’s a first-time recipe at The Frog & PenguINN. It was made for two reasons — cauliflower and fresh mushrooms were on sale at the local supermarket this week and I needed to find a way to use both at one time, while still fresh.

Searching various recipe sites online and our own cookbooks yielded many variations from roasting the cauliflower first, cooking it in water, or adding cream. This recipe used only chicken broth as the liquid base, although you could add some dairy for a creamier texture (see below). The mushrooms and cauliflower together made a naturally rich, thick broth. This recipe is gluten-free if you use broth and oil labeled as such.

Cauliflower and Mushroom Soup (No Dairy)

• 1 head of cauliflower shopped into florets
• 3 C mushrooms, sliced, your choice (button, shitake, portabella)
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-6 C low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp ground white or black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBSP dried thyme
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 TBSP cooking oil, your choice (olive, canola, vegetable)

1. Sauté garlic and onion in oil until soft, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add cauliflower, mushrooms and seasonings; sauté for another 5 minutes.
3. Add 4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until cauliflower is fork tender, 20-30 minutes.
4. Pour soup into a heat proof blender, reserving some pieces of cauliflower and mushrooms if you want a chunkier soup. Better yet use a stick (immersion) blender. It’s easier and there’s much less cleanup.
5. Blend until smooth, return to pan to reheat. If soup is too thick, add more broth after blending and stirring well. Ladle into soup cups or bowls and enjoy.

Dairy to add some creaminess (optional)

After blending soup, return to pot and stir in:

• ¼ to ½ C heavy cream or half and half

This recipe was so easy that Grenville has (can you guess what’s coming) declared it another “keeper.” We served it with a sandwich of pulled pork as we had frozen leftovers from a recent Sunday dinner. It would also be great with some crusty bread and a side salad.