Sea monsters and soup

The last few days have consisted of gray skies, drizzle and a chill in the air.  Perfect weather to spend an afternoon inside making soup from my new cookbooks. A month ago, I decided to purchase Heidi Swanson's new cookbook.  Heidi is the author of the blog 101cookbooks, which I read often.  She is a fantastic cook and photographer and even better resource on using all natural ingredients and incorporating whole grains into recipes.  When I went on Amazon to order her new book, I placed it in my shopping cart and was then offered free shipping if I ordered her first cookbook as well.  Being the sucker I am for a good cookbook and free shipping, I of course ordered not one, but TWO books.  And boy, am I glad I did.  I have spent many hours flipping through the pages, gazing at the beautiful pictures. More on these books later, back to this soup I made!  This cauliflower soup is a wonderful a blend of vegetables, complemented by the tang of Dijon mustard.  To make this soup, I had to cut up green and yellow onions, potatoes, and cauliflower.  To tell you the truth, I have never been compelled to examine vegetables as closely as I did last Thursday and was absolutely intrigued by the intricacy and uniqueness of each vegetable.  The perfect spirals of the green onions and then tree like shape of the cauliflower florets were so much fun to photograph, and I couldn't help but notice how the roots of the green onions resembled sea monsters.  Call me crazy-but I had a blast!  I wonder what my family thinks of me when they come home after work to find me blaring country music and having the time of my life with vegetables...oh, wait, they are used to it. Nothing new here.

In addition to having way more fun than the average person cutting up and photographing vegetables (I'm weird, I know) the soup turned out so well! and I felt compelled to share the recipe with you. It's very healthy and doesn't require too much hands on time.

Cauliflower Soup: from Super Natural Everyday  (I highly recommend buying this cookbook or Super Natural Cooking, OR BOTH)

croutons
A decent sized chunk of whole grain bread (6 oz), cut or torn into 1/2″ pieces
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
a few pinches of sea salt

soup
2 tbsp butter
2 shallots, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
one large potato, peeled and diced (1/4″ cubes)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp Dijon mustard
To make the croutons, toss all ingredients together in a large bowl, then spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until the croutons are crunchy
To make the soup, melt the butter in a large soup pot. Add the shallots and onions and cook for a few minutes, stirring, until they soften. Sprinkle with a little salt, then add the potato, garlic, and vegetable broth.
Cover and bring to a low boil, cooking for about 8 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the cauliflower and stir well. Cover and cook another 5 or 6 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Add the cheese and mustard and stir well.
Puree with an immersion blender, and add salt to taste. Add a little more broth or water if the soup is too thick.
Serve topped with croutons and a sprinkling of grated cheese.

*You may notice that there are no croutons in the pictures...I skipped this step to keep the soup gluten free. I also added an extra tablespoon of mustard for additional flavor.