I don't know what it has been like in your neck of the woods lately, but last week in Omaha it was HOT. The kind of hot that made you not want to do much of anything. When Josh and I weren't at work, we were inside in the air conditioning. When it came to food for the week we wanted to make something cool and refreshing. Enter: chilled cauliflower bisque.
We first got the idea for a soup like this from our first wedding anniversary dinner. Josh got a chilled cauliflower soup that was so good we vowed to recreate it at home. With the heatwave this week, it seemed like as good a time as any.
Chilled Cauliflower Bisque Recipe
Makes 16 servings (Yes, this makes a lot of soup!)Ingredients
- 2 heads cauliflower, chopped into large chunks
- 1 Large bulb of garlic
- 1 bulb of fennel, sliced (Save the greens for another recipe - they're great in salads!)
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 large sweet onion, quartered
- 1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
- 2 quarts vegetable stock
- 1 small container (5.3 oz) Stonyfield Plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
- Salt (to taste)
- Pepper (to taste)
- Cinnamon (to taste)
- Smoked paprika (to taste)
- Cayenne pepper (to taste)
- Ground cardamom (to taste)
- Extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 375. On a baking sheet, arrange the cauliflower and onion. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes, or until cauliflower starts to brown. Remove from oven and set aside. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Cut the top off of the bulb of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove garlic and set aside to cool. In a small pan, heat the carrot, fennel ginger and saute until everything is tender (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside. In a large stock pot, combine the cauliflower, fennel onion, ginger, and carrot, and add the vegetable stock, along with your desired spices. Unwrap the garlic, scoop all of it out of the bulb, and add it to the soup. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the cauliflower easily breaks up with the back of a spoon. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until everything is relatively smooth. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can transfer the soup to a regular blender and puree it, but it may take several batches) Once everything is blended, remove the soup from the heat and add the milk, Greek yogurt, parsley and lemon zest, and blend until everything is smooth. Add the apple cider vinegar and blend that in, too. Allow the soup to cool, then transfer to a large vessel and chill in the refrigerator overnight. Serve and enjoy!Action Shots
The finished product
The result was a delicious chilled soup that was exactly what I was craving on a hot summer day. And the day after, and the day after. It didn't taste anything like the one we had at the restaurant, but I didn't mind. I can go back and order that soup. And I can make this one at home. :)
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Questions of the Day: Are you a cold soup fan? What's your favorite soup? How do you keep cool on hot days?
P.S. If you live in Omaha and like wine, you're really going to want to check out the giveaway happening on my Instagram today.
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