Curried Cauliflower Soup

There is no better meal on a cold, winter day than a warm bowl of homemade soup.  And why, you might ask, is homemade soup so superior?  I'll tell you one of the (many) reasons.  You can make any flavor you want!  You're not stuck with "chicken noodle" or "chicken vegetable" or "chicken and beans" with tough, miniscule chicken bits that make you shudder when you guess what parts of the bird they're from.  Or generic vegetable soups like, "tomato" or "butternut squash" or "cream of broccoli" where you wonder how a vegetable product can possibly be put into a form that is shelf-stable until 2025.

Instead, on those cold winter nights when you really want soup, I suggest this curried cauliflower soup.  I made it with golden cauliflower (which is probably quite apparent from the photo), but white would work just as well.  This made a great warm, nutritous winter lunch, and hopefully goes some of the way towards undoing the diet damage I've been doing lately.

Currried Cauliflower Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium sized head of cauliflower (white or golden)

2 shallots

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

6 cups vegetable broth

2 tbsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cumin

2 tsp garlic powder

3 dried bay leaves

2 tsp fresh parsley, minced

1 cup whole milk (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a larce saute pan or stock pot, saute the shallots in olive oil and salt until tender but not browned.

2. Cut the florets off the cauliflower head. Remove the tough core of the head, and place any leftover pieces in a food processor. Puree leftover pieces until finely chopped.

2. Pour in vegetable stock, and add cauliflower and spices. Simmer 15 minutes, and then stir in parsey and milk. Simmer an additional 5 minutes, remove the bay leaves, and serve.

Serves four.

Last, but not least, I'm submitting this to Holler and Lisa's No Croutons Required vegetarian soup roundup!  I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with!