2.03.2009

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Did You Know? Scientists believe that turmeric, the spice which turns curry dishes yellow, stops the growth of leukemia cells, and seems to protect against damage from cigarette smoke and some processed food.

I'm guessing I'm like many of you out there. You subscribe to delicious magazines, with all the intentions in the world to recreate all of the recipes you drool over while flipping through the pages. Only to find a stack of read-through magazines at the end of the year, and no recipes to show for it. Determined to change this, when my next issue of Vegetarian Times arrived in the mail, I put my apron on, and got cooking. Soup was the prominent feature of the January issue, so that is what you find yourself with today. Curried cauliflower soup to be exact.

With a snow storm at bay at any given moment, soup is so nourishing this time of year. Thick, creamy, and intensely spiced, this soup is definately for the curry lovers out there. I was so surprised how full-bodied this soup ended up. The pureed cauliflower provided the perfect texture of without any added cream.




Curried Cauliflower Soup

I used one apple here, but I may add another the next time. It definately helped to cut the spiciness of the curry powder, but the apple's flavor didn't really come through. I ended up serving this alongside apple slices (for dipping), but chopping them up even finer would make for an excellent garnish. I imagine a fruit chutney would be perfect as well. The recipe calls for one tablespoon of curry powder. If you're not a huge fan of spicy dishes, I would start with a 1/2 tablespoon, as the full tablespoon packed a lot of punch. I usually add buffalo sauce to everything, and I found myself taking a bite of an apple after each spoonful of soup. All that aside, this soup was really tasty, and a big hit when I served it for lunch the other week. Enjoy!


Curried Cauliflower Soup


Curried Cauliflower Soup
If you find this soup to be on the thick side for your liking, I imagine a little coconut milk to smooth things out would be wonderful. It would also help to mellow out the heat.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium apple (I used Golden Delicious)
1 tablespoon curry powder (I used red curry)
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 large head cauliflower, chopped into 1-inch pieces
4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar*
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar


Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft and golden. Stir in apple, curry powder, and garlic, and cook for another 2 minutes, until the curry powder turns a deep yellow.

Add cauliflower and vegetable broth, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Cool 20 minutes (helps to deepen the flavors), then blend in a food processor until smooth. Stir in honey and vinegar, and season with salt, if needed.

*I know it's only one teaspoon, but don't leave out the honey/agave, it really rounded out the flavors.


21 comments:

  1. This looks great, I love the addition of the apple!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the texture - looks wonderful for a cold day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love curried veggies. Delicious with the apple too! Perfect soup for a cold day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like curried anything! This soup looks great! Turmeric turns everything a lovely yellow. I love your note about turmeric. In India, not only do we use it for cooking, but also apply fresh ground turmeric on the face; its great antiseptic too! Its also considered auspicious and is used in some prayer rituals.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I always look forward to the little food info/history in the beginning of each post. Tumeric is so good for you. And I love this dish because I am a huge fan of anything-curry.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I totally agree with you about the stack of magazines and the well-meaning intentions of actually making all the things I put post-it's on. They always seem to get lost in the shuffle or take a back seat to the internet.

    Thanks for reminding me of this!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We are having snow right now, this would be soo perfect. It looks fantastic!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Adding curry to a cauliflower soup is a great idea! It looks really good!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the color and it's so thick. I have totally been in the mood for soup lately, but it's too hot.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love that about pureed cauliflower soup. It's so creamy and velvety tasting, yet you don't have to add fattening cream to it to create such luscious body. The apple sounds like a most harmonious addition, too.

    ReplyDelete
  11. wow i love curry! this looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love veg times, but I don't use it nearly as much as I should. I also don't love cauliflower, but seem to find myself with it in the fridge anyway. Your soup looks wonderful and your pictures are, as always, beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just picked up some cauliflower at the store this week and might make this soup with it! Sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yes I'm a fully-fledged curry-lover and this soup sounds perfect for me. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to more fabulous creations.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm the only one in my household that likes cauliflower, so I'd love to make a big batch of this to keep all to myself! :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your soup looks fantastic. I like the thai twist with the red curry. Also, great factoid about turmeric. I have a whole jar of it I hardly ever use but now I might have to change that!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I bet the apple mellows the whole soup. Lovely photos and I'm sure it tastes amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you! I originally got this amazing recipe out of the vegetarian times magazine, but my copy was recycled by one of my roommates by accident. I've been trying to find the recipe for a few weeks. One of my favorite soups!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Superb soup recipe, thank you! We had it for lunch just now, the nicest soup I've made in ages. I used the full tbsp measure of curry powder, added turmeric and coriander, finished with a swirl of cream and toasted pumpkin kernels.

    ReplyDelete


Back to Top