A slight chill made its full blown appearance the other day here on the mountain. It had been flirting with us here and there, but last week we had a solid week of chill in the air in honor of the Autumn Equinox. It was surprising good… Like a sweet old friend coming back from a long absence. I surprised myself with how good I felt in the middle of it all, being that my heart is still so entangled in the Summer love of my time in Maui.
Completely driven by the opening of this new Season, I found myself entering the kitchen and making us the first of many bowls of soup for this Fall. This little ditty was easy and fairly quick to put together and the results were of the delicious-snuggling-in-for-the-night variety.
::Cauliflower Sage Soup::
5 cups chopped Cauliflower florets
1 1/2 cups organic unsweetened apple juice
1 1/4 organic vegetable broth
1 small onion diced (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp. ground Coriander
2 tsp. chopped fresh sage leaves
1 hefty pinch of Turmeric
Fresh thyme leaves for garnish
Olive oil
2 cloves chopped garlic
heft pinch of rock salt
1. Place all ingredients EXCEPT for the olive oil, thyme and garlic in a sauce pan and over medium heat and cover. Allow to simmer for at least 15 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.
2. While the soup cooks, take about 3 Tbsp of virgin olive oil and pour into a mortal and pestle. Add the chopped garlic and the rock salt. With the pestle mash and grind the garlic and salt with the olive oil. Do this until the olive oil begins to take on a slightly milky appearance due to the mashed up garlic. Set aside.
3. When soup is done cooking, blend it. I use a Braun Hand Blender & Chopper
4. Ladle the soup into a lovely bowl and then add a pinch of freshly pulled thyme leaves in the center. Then using a large spoon, take some of the luscious garlic oil and drizzle it over the soup in an inviting spiral pattern. I’m telling you, its divine.
Serves 3-4
Happy Autumn everyone!
Yum yum yum! I love cauliflower soups. One of my particular favorites is a cauliflower-basil cream soup, so I'm willing to bet this is similarly amazing! And it sounds like another chance to use my new immersion blender–woohoo!
Oh Cauliflower Basil sounds really good to! I will try to add basil next time instead of sage. I imagine the flavor to be totally different.
Looks great. Cauliflower is something I can have in *almost* unlimited quantities. Saving to my faves!
Me too! I love how diverse it can be… Its especially great in Indian dishes.
It LOOKS divine…so I can just imagine it's aromas and taste 🙂 Thanks luv, G
Suuper G!!!!! I drove by your pad today… several times, looking for our neighbors dog. We need a Cafe Aroma date. I\’ll catch you on twitter.
I read the title and thought, "Too weird." Then I read the recipe and thought, "Wow, I have to try that!" Thanks for sharing.
Please do! And let me know what you think!
Oh, I wish I had your recipe this summer when we were swimming in cauliflower! I won't dare buy cauliflower at the grocery store right now because we're swimming in CSA produce (seriously, I tripped over a bag of apples earlier). I think this means I'll need to make a squash soup. Thank you for the inspiration! This is beautiful!
By the way, your photos are stunning. Photographing soup is tricky, at least it can be for me. You are such an inspiration.
Thank you so much for your words. Photographing all food is challenging for me, but I keep practicing! We keep talking about joining the CSA up here in Idyllwild. I like how it makes you stay within season and get creative with what you have.
The use of apple juice caused my eyebrows to go up in surprise, but after thinking about it, I'll bet it added a great flavor. I love sage and cauliflower. Now, you're going to have me making this because like you, it's chilly these days. Thanks for the recipe!
It gives it a bit of a sweet undertone that mixes nicely with the sage and turmeric. Let me know what you think when you have it!