Hearty Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Roasting cauliflower brings out any latent sugars lying deep in this often-misunderstood vegetable, making it sweet and savory, and surprisingly robust. When it's amped up with an evocative spice blend cauliflower goes next-level, sitting front-and-center in the middle of a soup that is hearty, satisfying, rich with Mexican seasonings, visually beautiful and--even better!--good for you.
After roasting the cauliflower, introduce it to the rest of the soup ingredients and blend it together. A good immersion blender makes blending in the soup pot easy, but you can blend in a countertop blender if that's what you have. After the initial puree, add cold cubed butter to the soup to help emulsify the soup. If you want to make this dish vegan, you could opt to use a good plant-based butter, but try to avoid using anything that is very oily as it can make your soup taste greasy. This would be a perfect soup to enjoy with a nice piece of bread or a salad, or alongside some ham or pork for a deliciously warming and satisfying fall meal!
- 1 large head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 Tablespoons Oaxacan Vegetable Seasoning
- 1 medium-sized red onion, diced small
- 32 oz. vegetable stock
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper Medium Grind
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, or more to taste
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
- Parsley for garnish
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss cauliflower florets with 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Add Oaxacan Vegetable Seasoning and toss well again. Place cauliflower on baking sheet and bake in oven 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
- After turning cauliflower halfway through, add remaining 1 Tablespoon olive oil to Dutch oven and heat to medium. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add Kosher Salt and Black Pepper Medium Grind.
- Increase heat to medium-high and add vegetable stock. Bring to a rolling simmer. Add cauliflower florets, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- With an immersion blender or regular blender (in batches), blend until smooth. Add lemon juice and blend again until incorporated. Add chilled butter and blend once more until well incorporated.
- Taste soup and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve!
