Curried Cauliflower Soup, A Weight Watcher’s Zero Point Recipe

The other day a fellow blogger linked to a post here with accolades, but the exact nature of the link had me laughing.  Her words exactly:

Jerry always has great meat recipes.  He is such a freaking carnivore.  But this Roast Beef, Sun dried Tomato, and Basil Taco recipe is …just… well…bloody good.
From BlissTree.com

While I love the comment and I am most definitely a carnivore, I realized that I’ve been neglecting our good friend the vegetable, and that’s a crying shame. It’s not that I don’t eat them or love them, it’s just that they are usually a side note to the star of the show in most cases.  What an injustice!

With new determination to feature more veggie recipes, both for the vegetarians out there and for my waistline (which seems to grow in direct proportion to how happy I am with my life), I rattled a few ideas around, checked to see what I had in the house and freezer and came up with a plan.

It seems that I managed to overstock my larder with cauliflower.  While I love this veggie, I usually use it as a filler ingredient in other dishes or as a simple side for fish or pork.  Only once before have I featured it here as an ingredient in its own right, and that dish is where I took the inspiration for this soup.

I can’t think of a better pairing than cauliflower and curry.  I’m not a fan of really hot curries or massively competing flavors and cauliflower’s neutrality makes the curry shine without the need for a lot of spice.  It’s almost a zen thing.  This soup does not disappoint.

In the end this dish packs a lot of flavor in a satisfying package.  It’s a great starter but could work equally well as a very light lunch in its own right.  The flavor is both delicate and aggressive at the same time, making for a wonderful contrast.  I definitely recommend giving this one a try.

Yield: 8 servings

Curried Cauliflower Soup, A Weight Watcher's Zero Point Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb. (16 oz.) Cauliflower, cut into florets (or 1 bag frozen cauliflower florets)
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/8 tsp. sweet paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Sweat shallot and garlic with a pinch of salt in a dry pan over an extremely low flame or the lowest heat your range top can produce, stirring occasionally. When shallot is translucent, add remaining ingredients, cover tightly and increase heat to medium.
2. Cook until cauliflower is soft (about 15 minutes), remove from heat and puree in a blender or food processor until smooth. If soup is too thick, add vegetable broth in 1/4 cup increments and continue pulsing until desired consistency is achieved.
3. Return to pan over low flame until piping hot, serve immediately.
4. Share and Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 13Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 371mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g

What I would have done Differently had I thought of it at the time:

This batch turned out slightly more spicy than I would have preferred.  Cauliflower simply does notthing to diminish the heat of the curry powder, so adjust the amounts as desired, adding more turmeric for color.

It needs nuts.  perhaps a sprinkling of peanuts.  Of course, that would take it out of the zero point category. Maybe some chopped raw cauliflower for texture.

Links to other cauliflower soup recipes:

• Bits of England and Cauliflower — L’Angleterre et le chou-fleur, from La Tartine Gourmande
• Roasted Cauliflower Soup, from Anne’s Food
• Simple Cauliflower Soup Recipe, From Simply Recipes