Caramelized Three Onion Cauliflower Soup with Basil Oil

“Mistake Gone Right” should be the title of this recipe. It happens all the time, let’s be honest. We set out to make some glorious meal for our loved ones (or ourselves), and somewhere down the line, it all goes down the pooper. So what can you do to salvage? Just add stock and blend. Soup disguises all mistakes!

Disclaimer: You definitely have to start out with something that, at least, tastes o k a y. I mean, I can’t imagine something like celery, chocolate and adobo peppers tasting good. Period. Soup or not. But…hey,what do I know?

Ingredients

  • 2 heads cauliflower, stems & core removed, chopped small
  • F.O.C. (fat of choice)
  • 3 leeks, sliced & washed (see pics)
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • chili flakes, to taste
  • 1 quart stock
  • 1 pint  original flavored coconut milk creamer*
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 c olive oil
  • s&p

Method

How to clean your leeks:

In a large soup pot, saute the onions, leeks, shallots in your F.O.C., over medium-low heat until they’ve turned a nice golden, brown color. Add the cauliflower and stock. Bring to a simmer and let the cauliflower soften. Use an immersion/hand blender, or a regular blender, to puree the soup. Add the coconut creamer and the soup is done.

For the Basil Oil

If you use a blender to puree the soup, make sure you make the basil oil first…just saves a step– you don’t have to clean out the blender twice. I would rather have basil flavored soup puree than cauliflower flavored basil oil.

Place the basil, olive oil and some s&p in the blender and puree on high. This makes a lot of basil oil. It adds a lot of brightness and goes great on almost any soup (maybe not chili),  eggs, and is a great base for salad dressing.

*This stuff is awesome. No real detectable coconut flavor, just tastes like 1/2 & 1/2.


Comments

5 responses to “Caramelized Three Onion Cauliflower Soup with Basil Oil”

  1. Oh, I needed a new soup to try out and have had a “creamed onion” soup rolling around in my head for a while. This looks awesome!

  2. Curious what this was supposed to be before it got blended.

  3. something akin to a cauliflower “rice” type dish…but the texture was off…a little mushy.

    seriously though, turning it into a soup took it up a few dozen notches.

  4. I love the idea of the coconut milk creamer, but the titanium dioxide in it depresses me. On balance, do you think a good, organic cream is less good for you and the environment ? Titanium Dioxide is produced by strip mining ! Thoughts ?

    1. heavy cream would definitely work in this. go for it!

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