Indian Summer— Curried Cauliflower Soup

After a 3 month hiatus, I am trying to return to posting recipes. Life has been busy with travel and many other exciting things. While I've continued to cook lots of vegetable concoctions, few have been very photo worthy and I haven't had the time to take pictures of the ones that were. Aside from coconut bread, I've barely baked at all.

With the days slipping by so quickly, I only realized how close the official start of summer was when pricing memorial day weekend flights. In my neck of the country, it feels like fall— cool, foggy, breezy. So while the Calendar says summer, the weather says soup. Hot soup. I have been on a hopeless Indian/ Thai kick recently, not wanting to eat much that doesn't involve curry, coconut milk or some kind of hot pepper. I have been living off of this soup for weeks at a time and am still not sick of it!

CURRIED CAULIFLOWER SOUP

1 Tbs. Coconut Oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 large head of Cauliflower, chopped into florets

6 cups vegetable Broth*

2 Tbs. Curry Powder**

3/4 C. Coconut Milk (Use full fat, not lite unless you're okay with a runnier soup)

Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

1. In large stockpot melt coconut oil over low heat.

2. Add in chopped onions and sauté until translucent.

3. Add in cauliflower florets and coat onions and cauliflower in curry powder.

4. Allow mixture to cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes. If your sense of smell has the ability, wait until the smell of the curry powder changes to be slightly sweet.

5. Add Vegetable broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.

6. Pureé mixture in pot with a hand blender until smooth or transfer to a regular blender to pureé. If you are transferring to a blender or not skilled at using a hand blender with hot liquids, allow the mixture to cool first.

7. Stir in the coconut milk and red pepper flakes if using to taste. Stir over heat for 5 minutes.

8. If the consistency of the soup isn't thick enough (the thickness will be dependent upon the size of the cauliflower), add a few tablespoons of rice flour or arrowroot powder and stir over heat.

*I am a huge fan of Rapunzel Vegan Vegetable cubes. They are available at pretty much every Whole Foods in the country that I have visited. These are much more environmentally friendly than buying liquid vegetable broth and much more affordable. Plus, I attribute my reputation for making amazing soups solely to these cubes. The ingredients are all natural, mostly organic and they are gluten free.

**The flavor of the soup is very much dependent upon the quality of the Curry Powder that you use, so if you have a favorite, use it! My current favorite is Frontier Brand, also available at most Whole Foods.