Ever since I made potato leek soup with cauliflower instead of potatoes, I’ve been dying to try cauliflower with different vegetables to see how it would turn out. I tried asparagus and ended up with a winner! It doesn’t get much better than this- low fat, low carb and delicious! So if you were wondering if you could thicken soup with cauliflower, the simple answer is yes.
You can use cauliflower to thicken any soup. Simply blend cooked cauliflower with some broth from the soup until it is silky smooth. Add back to your soup. There is no need to cook the soup any further since the cauliflower is already cooked.
After creating the cauliflower leek soup last week, I realized that not only did the cauliflower add thickness to the soup, it also added a silky creaminess that you normally only get with lots of fat. This gave me the idea to make a cream of asparagus soup with no cream.
Asparagus has been good at the farmer’s market, so I bought a few bunches last week. We ate the tender parts roasted on the grill but I saved the tough stems to use for the soup. How’s that for frugal!!! Here is my simple recipe that was super healthy and quite delicious. I will definitely make this again.
Cauliflower asparagus soup
- 1 head of cauliflower, chopped in 1 inch pieces
- End from 2-3 bunches of asparagus
- 4 cups of water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
- 2t chicken bouillon (omit if using stock above)
- white pepper and salt to taste
Put the cauliflower and asparagus in a large pot with the water (or stock) and bouillon. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. Let cool to at least room temperature and then blend until very smooth. The stems are fibery so you’ll need to strain it with a coarse strainer. I didn’t have a suitable strainer and actually strained this through a mesh bag that onions came in. It totally worked!!! Season with white pepper and salt. If you don’t have white pepper you can use regular pepper. White pepper really is perfect for this, though.
More ideas to thicken soup with cauliflower!
I have more cauliflower and vegetables lined up to try more variations on this. I can’t wait to try this cauliflower soup with:
- brocolli
- roasted peppers
- pumpkin
- bacon and onion
- bacon, onion and clams (like chowder)
I better cut this post off now because I keep thinking of new variations. I hope this gives you ideas of your own.