Cauliflower Leek Soup

I actually came down with a cold this week (I know, summer, wtf), I chalk it up to an obscene amount of work hours, traveling, not enough sleep, and most definitely stress.  I was pretty much eating different "healthy" canned soups during the workday but I wanted something better for dinner at home.

I considered boiling some chicken, making my own stock, adding veggies, etc... and it made me tired just thinking about it.  I wanted something easier so that I could eat it and then promptly pass out.

Then I remembered one of my favorite pre-paleo soups... potato leek.  It's easy, it's DELICIOUS, and hey... cauliflower works for potatoes in just about every other recipe, why not this one?

This is one hundred percent my own creation, I have the gist of potato leek memorized so I just did some subbing.

Dave swore it would be weird, but I just kept thinking well, broccoli cheddar works, why couldn't cauliflower soup?  And a star was born...


WARNING:  THIS IS OBSCENELY DELICIOUS.  EVEN DAVE SAID SO.  WITH THAT ADJECTIVE TOO, AND HE DOESN'T LIKE SPEAKING HYPERBOLICALLY SO IT REALLY MEANS SOMETHING.


Cauliflower Leek Soup

Ingredients:
One head cauliflower
Two large or up to four small leeks
Five cloves minced garlic (just run it through a garlic press)
4-6 cups chicken stock (you'll add to get the right texture so the amount will vary)
Two tablespoons butter (from grass-fed cows for bonus points)
Salt and pepper to taste


Chop the white portions of your leeks into slices.  Since you'll be blending this, the size isn't a big deal. A leek snob would only use the very bottom and toss the rest, but I like money and I know I'm blending it anyway so I use quite a bit more of the leek.  I would say I use about 60% of the thing.

In a large soup pot (the giant kind with handles) cook the butter until it melts on high heat.  Add all of the leeks and your minced garlic, add some salt and pepper and stir around.  Cook until the leeks turn translucent.

At this point, add four cups of chicken stock (you could use vegetable stock also, or be lazy like me and use water and better-than-bouillon).   Cook until it's at a rolling boil.

Now add your cauliflower.  It cooks faster if you've cut it into little florets.  I use most of the stem, just not the very bottom, tough part.  Throw some more salt and pepper on top.  Add a lid and adjust the heat so it's *just* boiling and cook for 20-40 minutes, until cauliflower can be pierced easily with a fork.

If you own an immersion blender, you are cooler than me, and you'd do some cool stuff at this point.  I, however, own a Ninja, so I carefully pour the whole shebang (yes it's burning hot, no, please don't die) into the Ninja and give it a whirl.  A long whirl.  If it's pretty much applesauce-textured, add some of that extra 2 cups of stock until it's less applesauce-textured.  It will still be a thick soup.

I was too sick to take a better picture.  We added shaved parmesan to the top 

because we had some extra.  If I were over-achieving, I'd also add a sprig of parsley.

There you have it.  It tasted amazing, it made wonderful leftovers, and it made me better.  Well maybe. I did get better though, and without isolating the variables you can't say it didn't...