Soup.
Soup is growing on me.  Soup can be wonderful.  Soup can also be easy and very good for you.  Why has it taken so long for me to fully appreciate soup?  Well, Soup can also be very boring.  Truth be told, this recipe borders on boring. For sure, it's the most boring soup you could ever look at - BAR NONE! Here's what makes all the difference for me though - it's the cheese.  I used very old cheddar in this recipe.  I'm thinking that a little bit of blue cheese or something strong like it would work beautifully as well. 


Allow me to digress for just a moment.  I got a beautiful cauliflower in this weeks food box.  Originally, I was going to make soup.  Then I wanted to make curried chick peas and cauliflower - except nobody in my house actually wants to eat it but me.  Then I thought I might try this interesting looking recipe which involved tortillas, roasted, spiced cauliflower, spinach and beans (still sounds quite interesting actually).  At the end of the day I just kind of lost steam and ended up back at the soup by default.  I ended up making vegetable curry (EASY and in an upcoming post) without cauliflower and without chickpeas.  I'll leave the tortilla/cauliflower/spinach for another time in the future.


I'm glad that I did the soup in the end.  See, I've been neglecting carrying a lunch to work with me these days.  I don't really have time to get to a microwave (we've already talked through how I feel about cold sandwiches), sit down and eat my food in between all the other stuff that's going on and I want to make the most of my time - I'm only there until 2:30 p.m.  So after I come home it's really nice to have a warm bowl of soup to put into my belly.  I happen to like mine with a few crushed chilli peppers on it.  Divine.


Cauliflower/Potato/Cheese Soup
serves 6

1 small to medium head of Cauliflower, broken up into florets
4 - 5 small fist sized potatoes, less if they're bigger, diced
1 onion, diced (I used Leeks which work beautifully too)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup butter
4 - 5 cups broth (I used vegetable broth but chicken will do as well)
1tbsp salt
2 - 3 tbsp fresh herbs, coarsely chopped
dash of pepper sauce if you desire
1 cup shredded cheese (old/extra old or blue work best)


In a large, heated Dutch oven add the butter and once melted throw in the cauliflower, potatoes and onion.  Continue to cook until the onions have begun to wilt.  Add in the garlic and continue to cook at med/low heat for about 10 min.  Add in the broth, salt, herbs and pepper sauce and stir well.
Once the veggies are soft, place small batches in a blender and puree.  You can do this with all or just part of the soup depending on the texture you want.
Put the pureed soup back on the heat and add in the cheddar.  If it needs it, add in a little milk too.  Check tastes and adjust as necessary.