Try cauliflower as alternative to potatoes for creamy soup

Cauliflower has come a long way since its days as a steamed vegetable covered in thick, viscous and suspiciously yellow cheese sauce. I wasn’t ahead of the trend in accepting cauliflower at my dinner table. I could only remember a bland, waterlogged, soggy but toothsome dish that reminded me of old housewife magazines and entertaining dinner guests.

I don’t know if you recall those magazines from the ’70s, but the average recipe section (and accompanying food photography) was mostly about shades of brown, parsley sprigs and unnatural shapes. It’s no wonder that for years, family sitcoms made fun of Brussels sprouts, invariably steamed and boiled; casseroles, ever gloppy; and meatloaf, always mysterious.

Mush seemed to be the focus of cooking. Taking cauliflower seriously again took more than a few prods of the fork.

But the versatility of cauliflower has taken on new importance in today’s kitchen. Special diets, and gluten and dairy allergies, call for substitute ingredients, and cauliflower has proved to be a strangely flexible replacement. I’ve seen it used as rice, pizza crust and made into tortillas, all without grains. Mashed cauliflower becomes an acceptable substitute for potatoes.

It thickens and has a mouth feel similar to foods I had been avoiding, which led me to use it to satiate a craving: creamy potato soup.

I doubt we will be seeing cauliflower milk on the shelves any time soon as a replacement for the lactose intolerant, but I’m enjoying it in all forms these days because of its creamy and smooth texture. It helps that I’m consuming even more vegetables when I sip a spoonful.

Sauteed, fried, baked, mashed or pureed — anything but steamed — cauliflower is something you can always use a little more of in your life.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon

1 head cauliflower

2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed

5 cups broth*, plus additional 2 cups as necessary

1/3 cup raw cashew pieces

4 slices cooked bacon or 1 cup chopped ham (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper, as needed

1/2 cup diced green onion, white and light green parts

Dice all parts of cauliflower (yes, you can eat the leaves and stalks), separating leaves and stalks from florets.

In large soup pot over medium, heat ghee or olive oil. Saute diced leaves and stalks for several minutes until they start to become translucent. Add florets, garlic and salt and saute 2 more minutes.

Pour in 5 cups broth and bring to simmer. Add cashews and simmer 20 minutes or until cauliflower is very tender.

In blender, puree contents of pot. Start on low so soup does not overflow. At this point you might decide you need more broth, depending on thickness of soup.

Taste and add more salt as needed (I used two more teaspoons). Serve soup in bowls and add bacon or ham chunks if using, as well as a sprinkling of pepper and green onion. Serves 4 to 6.

*Note: I used hambone broth I made previously, but chicken or vegetable broth works just as well.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Mariko Jackson blogs about family and food at www.thelittlefoodie.com.