Comforting Cauliflower Leek Soup
This cauliflower soup is comforting, creamy, and lip smacking delicious.! Like a hug for your soul, completely dairy-free and gluten-free, and made from whole, plant-based ingredients. Plus, it’s an easy recipe that even the novice cook can master- especially if you follow my tips!
Soup: A Vehicle for Eating more Veggies
One of the easiest ways to get more vegetables into your life in the cooler months? SOUP, of course! Yeah, you might already have known that. But did you know that making your own soup is actually very easy? Seriously! This is beginner cook territory.
However, before you jump straight to the recipe, read through my cooking tips…
Tips for Cooking Cauliflower Leek Soup
Most soups follow a pretty standard formula. You start off with what the French like to call mirepoix- minced veggies that can include onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. You sauté that in olive oil over very low heat (you don’t want it to brown!), add in some salt, and then start layering in the rest of your ingredients.
Spices usually come next, then whatever the main ingredients are in your soup. You’ll toss everything together to be sure it’s all coated in flavor. Maybe add another pinch of salt. And only then will you add liquid and start to really cook your soup.
This is the strategy we’re going to use in this cauliflower soup recipe. Except rather than traditional mirepoix, we are using leeks- which are abundant this time of year.
How to Prepare Your Leeks
When prepping your leeks, first slice off the bottoms, then start slicing them into moons, as thin as you can. If you’ve got a large leek, cut it in half lengthwise to make slicing easier. And- this is important-only use the white and yellow parts of the leek. No dark green.
Once you’ve sliced the leeks, place them in a large bowl and fill with water. Loosen them up with your hands under water, to clean the dirt out. Then drain, rinse once more and drain, and you’re ready to go!
How we make the soup extra creamy
If you’ve haven’t yet heard, the majority of people can’t digest dairy. So I’m all about making soup creamy by other means. And in this case, we’re going to use raw cashews, soaked for about 4 hours in advance. They’re a neutral tasting nut that can create decadent, creamy staples from sour cream to ice cream. In this cauliflower soup recipe, we’ll add the nuts towards the end, and then blend them in. We also will blend in some nutritional yeast, which adds to the soup’s rich and creamy taste. Now for the next key step in this recipe: blending.
How to Make Perfectly Puréed Soups
This part is super important, friends. To purée a soup, you’ve got two choices- regular blender or immersion blender.
In either case, however, you’ll want to be careful about not using too much liquid. Start off by blending the solids with some liquid. Add more liquid as you need it. You might find you don’t need all the broth- and that using all of it would make your soup too watery/thin.
If using a blender, you’ll also want to be careful to allow steam to escape. Don’t fill your blender all the way- blend hot soups in batches. When using my Vitamix, I remove the small inner cap from the lid and cover it lightly with a kitchen towel while blending.
The Last Step: Seasoning
After you’ve pureed the soup and returned it to the pot, you’re on the last step- seasoning it with an acid, salt, and pepper. First you’re going to add your acid, in this case lemon juice.
As a little experiment, take a taste before you add the lemon, and then try it after. See the difference? Acid will bring out flavors in your soup that you didn’t know were there.
Finally, add a little more salt and pepper to your soup, till it tastes the way you like it. Make note that if you want your cauliflower soup to be completely white, you’ll need to use white pepper (not black). If you don’t care, just use black pepper! No biggie.
Cauliflower Leek Soup
Makes 4 to 6 servings (1 cup each)
Ingredients
2 medium leeks, white and yellow parts only, thinly sliced
1 medium head of cauliflower, cored and chopped into florets
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours or overnight
1T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, minced
4 large thyme sprigs, finely chopped, plus a couple more sprigs for garnish
1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
1/4t red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
1/2 of a lemon
2T nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper
Directions
Prepare all your ingredients.
In a medium-large sized sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Then add the leeks and a big pinch of salt and sauté until they start to become translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Lower the heat further, add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds.
Add the thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes and another pinch of salt and sauté for another 30 seconds.
Next add the cauliflower florets, and toss to coat in the leek and spice mixture. Add another big pinch of salt. Allow the cauliflower to sauté for about 3 minutes.
Add enough water to cover the cauliflower by no more than an inch (side note: if you’ve got vegetable stock or broth on hand, you can use that instead for a richer flavored soup). Also add the two bay leaves. Bring the water to a boil, then place the cover on the pot (slightly ajar), lower the heat, and allow to simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender.
Turn off the burner and remove the pot from the heat. Remove the bay leaves and add the nutritional yeast. Drain and rinse the cashews and add them to the pot.
Now, working in batches, puree the soup in your blender. Be careful not to use all the liquid at once, in case your soup is too watery. If using an immersion blender, remove some of the liquid and set it to the side while you blend the soup together. Once you’ve blended all the soup, if you’d like it to be less thick, add some of the rest of the liquid and continue blending.
Return the soup to the pot and give it a squeeze of lemon. Stir the soup, taste and add more if you like. Add salt and pepper to your liking (meaning, add little bit, stir, taste, and then add more if you think it needs more salt).
You’re done! Place into serving bowls and garnish with a little fresh thyme and sliced green onions. Enjoy!
