Saturday, March 21, 2009

Organic Cauliflower Soup


The Diva coming to you with another great recipe idea! Today was a cold, cloudy California day as the marine layer shifted inland, and nothing warms me up more than a nice, simple soup. After perusing my fridge, I found that I had a lovely organic head of cauliflower. So for lunch today, I decided to make a pureed cauliflower soup. Cauliflower is a wonderful vegetable with tons of health benefits. Heralding from the same vegetable family as kale, broccoli and collard greens, it's low in fat, high in fiber, folate and vitamin C. Like other members of the brassica family, cauliflower has phytochmeicals considered to be anti-cancer compounds. It also has certain anti-estrogen cancers that protect against breast and prostate cancers. What's more, cauliflower contains gluconsinolates which may improve the liver's ability to detoxify carcinogenic substances.

Now that's a nutritional punch if I've ever seen one! I topped my soup with chopped Italian parsley, not to be dismissed as a lowly garnish. In addition to packing great flavor, parsley also is a nutritional powerhouse. My lunch was positively divalicious! I paired the soup with an open-faced tuna salad sandwich. With out further ado, here's the simple recipe.

Domestic Diva's Organic Cauliflower Soup

1 head of organic cauliflower chopped
1 yellow onion chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1 carrot chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp Italian parsley chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp good olive oil for drizzling
1 tsp chili flakes
salt and pepper

Directions:

In a heavy bottomed stock pot, heat the 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion, carrot and celery, sauteing until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the chili flakes and garlic and saute for one additional minute.

Add the cauliflower and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender.

Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, ladle the soup in a bowl. Top with the chopped parsley and drizzle with the good olive oil. Enjoy!

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