Creamy Cauliflower Soup

The weather here is cloudy again. This month has been full of cloudy days with a sunny day thrown in every now and then just to keep me hopeful that spring will come someday. Meanwhile, I am cold. Almost all the time. And when I am cold, I make soup. My husband isn't quite the soup fan that I am (a common condition among men I am told) so I try to feature soup for lunch since it's usually just me and the horde, the kids I mean. Soups are filling, nutritious, inexpensive and easy, but most importantly, they are delicious.

Last week, at the store where I buy most of our produce they had a sale on cauliflower so I picked up an extra one and the inspiration for this soup was born. Also, I had part of a loaf of homemade bread going stale so croutons were in order. Croutons are perfect served with a cream soup. They are so delicious and easy to make it's a shame to only eat store-bought ones. Cube your bread, whether homemade or bought, and toss with oil, salt and pepper, and toast in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. That's it! I make them sometimes for a snack and the kids love them.

Now the soup!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons of butter

1 head of cauliflower, cut into chunks

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

Water

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 tablespoon softened butter

1 tablespoon flour

Salt and pepper

Saute the onion in the 2 tablespoons of butter until translucent. Add all the vegetables and pour in water just to the top of the vegetables. Simmer until the carrots are soft. Puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor. If you use a blender be sure to cool the soup some before pureeing or your blender top with blow off and hot soup will fly everywhere. Not too fun. I saw The Martha blow the top off her blender on TV with hot soup and she said a naughty word. If you do this with your blender, you will be tempted to say a naughty word too. If you are using a food processor, you don't have to cool the soup but do be careful. Pour all the lovely pureed soup back into your soup pot and stir in the cream. If the soup seems thin to you, blend the softened butter and flour in a small bowl and stir this into the soup. This is a great way to thicken any soup or sauce quickly and easily. Season with salt and pepper. These vegetables are pretty bland so you may have to add a good amount of salt. Don't be afraid! Salt is good, bland soup is not. Heat the soup thoroughly but don't let it boil after you add the cream, boiling and dairy products aren't good companions. Ladle up the soup into pretty bowls and garnish with croutons if you like. Be warm!