Snow Day/Roasted Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup
Going in our weekly family mailer.
This recipe was scheduled for later in the week, but we had a snow day today and it seemed like a nice idea to have a warm, hearty bowl of soup. Not sure about everyone else, but we ended up with 5 inches.
Unfortunately, our developer is still clearing lots and doing builds, which means the road surrounding us are considered privately owned. Basically that means that the city snow plows never make sweeps down here. We live at the back end of our subdivision, on a cul-de-sac. The only entrance/exit is a mile from us and is considered a (I think) tertiary road by the DOT. For my deep, deep South family and because I had no idea before I moved down: The salt solution is prioritized. Interstates, of course, are first priority for brine treatments, followed by secondary roads (major thoroughfares including larger county roads) and then, as supply permits, selected residential roads. As of 9 a.m., the report was that 17K tons? of brine had been applied and the trucks had yet to reach any secondary roads. Needless to say, today everyone was encouraged to stay home unless traveling was a necessity. Happily, that means I got to spend an extra day with D.
Chances are things won't be much better tomorrow. Our high today was 28 with heavy cloud cover and tonight's lows are single digits. Our neighbors insisted on shoveling their drive this morning and the moment they did, it slicked over again with ice. Anyway, on to the recipe....
16 oz. bag frozen cauliflower or 1 head fresh cauliflower florets, chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 small potatoes, diced
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
5 TBSP butter
5 TBSP all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
Onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces mild cheddar, shredded
Serve with extra cheese, if desired
Preheat oven to 400. Spread cauliflower evenly on rimmed cookie sheet and place in preheated oven. Drizzle very lightly with oil and roast until cauliflower begins to barely color. Remove from oven and set aside. Cauliflower, by the way, takes on a meaty carmelization when roasted that boiling alone simply can't match.
In a large saucepan, combine broth, potatoes, celery, carrots and roasted cauliflower. Boil vegetables for 15 minutes or until tender. In a separate small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and whisk in flour. Cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add flour mixture into vegetables. Briefly remove from heat and stir in milk. Reduce to a simmer, return to heat and season liberally.
Using an immersion blender, process soup until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, allow to cool briefly and then process soup in small batches in stand blender until desired consistency. Served tonight with a small salad.
Edited to add: We both liked this a lot and will definitely have it again.
This recipe was scheduled for later in the week, but we had a snow day today and it seemed like a nice idea to have a warm, hearty bowl of soup. Not sure about everyone else, but we ended up with 5 inches.
Unfortunately, our developer is still clearing lots and doing builds, which means the road surrounding us are considered privately owned. Basically that means that the city snow plows never make sweeps down here. We live at the back end of our subdivision, on a cul-de-sac. The only entrance/exit is a mile from us and is considered a (I think) tertiary road by the DOT. For my deep, deep South family and because I had no idea before I moved down: The salt solution is prioritized. Interstates, of course, are first priority for brine treatments, followed by secondary roads (major thoroughfares including larger county roads) and then, as supply permits, selected residential roads. As of 9 a.m., the report was that 17K tons? of brine had been applied and the trucks had yet to reach any secondary roads. Needless to say, today everyone was encouraged to stay home unless traveling was a necessity. Happily, that means I got to spend an extra day with D.
Chances are things won't be much better tomorrow. Our high today was 28 with heavy cloud cover and tonight's lows are single digits. Our neighbors insisted on shoveling their drive this morning and the moment they did, it slicked over again with ice. Anyway, on to the recipe....
16 oz. bag frozen cauliflower or 1 head fresh cauliflower florets, chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 small potatoes, diced
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
5 TBSP butter
5 TBSP all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
Onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces mild cheddar, shredded
Serve with extra cheese, if desired
Preheat oven to 400. Spread cauliflower evenly on rimmed cookie sheet and place in preheated oven. Drizzle very lightly with oil and roast until cauliflower begins to barely color. Remove from oven and set aside. Cauliflower, by the way, takes on a meaty carmelization when roasted that boiling alone simply can't match.
In a large saucepan, combine broth, potatoes, celery, carrots and roasted cauliflower. Boil vegetables for 15 minutes or until tender. In a separate small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and whisk in flour. Cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add flour mixture into vegetables. Briefly remove from heat and stir in milk. Reduce to a simmer, return to heat and season liberally.
Using an immersion blender, process soup until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, allow to cool briefly and then process soup in small batches in stand blender until desired consistency. Served tonight with a small salad.
Edited to add: We both liked this a lot and will definitely have it again.