Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Fall is a great time for soup.  Soup of all kinds!  I love soup (and truthfully, because I do love it so, I often make it in the middle of summer too ;)...).  One reason I love soups is that it is a great way for me to get my vegetables!

And this delicious soup is no exception!  In fact, it's base is cauliflower, so you know you're getting your veggies in this one!  I got this recipe from the THRIVE Cookbook.  I'd been excited to try it out for some time now :).  And it did not disappoint!  The only ingredient I lacked was the carrots...  I neither had fresh carrots or THRIVE carrots.  Clearly, I need to get some THRIVE Carrots into my home store -- because I really wouldn't have minded having even more veggies in the soup!  But even so, it was delicious...  And I know I'll be trying it again in the not-too-distant future.  With carrots!  Below is the recipe as I made it :).

CAULIFLOWER CHEESE SOUP
2 cups THRIVE Cauliflower
1/4 cup THRIVE Chopped Onions

1/3 cup THRIVE Celery
4 cups chicken broth*
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese*
salt* and pepper to taste
THRIVE Green Onions for garnish, optional

Combine cauliflower, onions, celery, and broth in a saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Transfer soup to a blender and puree.  ***Please use caution in this step!  I'll show you why shortly!

Return mixture to stove top and blend in milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and cheese.  Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with extra cheese and THRIVE Green Onions, if desired.

Here's the THRIVE Cookbook!  I love this thing!  And I'm looking forward to trying many more recipes from it :).

And so, here's the story about the pureeing in a blender...  So, the soup is hot hot hot when you're putting it in the blender to puree.  And if you seal the blender...  Well, the heat creates a pressure build-up.  So there I was, holding down the lid and I pressed "blend."  The result was fast -- and not fun.  The pressure pushed the lid up, and out spewed boiling soup all over my arm.  And all over the counter top and floor, etc.  I have some lovely burns from the incident.  So, while I whole-heartedly recommend this delicious soup...  I do not recommend following my lead on the whole blender part.  Take it slow and maybe leave a little pressure release somewhere...

Otherwise, make this soup!  It's yummy -- and a great way to get a bunch of veggies!  And, if you use vegetable broth instead of chicken, this could probably be vegetarian too!  (I'm not sure about the Worcestershire sauce though.... I think it has anchovies ;)).

Happy THRIVEing!!