amy chaplin

celebrating the art of eating well

Curried Cauliflower Soup with spinach and nigella seeds

POSTED ON February 8, 2014

Curried cauliflower soup

Curried cauliflower soup

Firstly, thanks to you, my subscribers for your patience with my website and hosting issues over the last week. I have now moved to a new host and hope that the erroneous WordPress posts are a thing of the past!

Now, on to more important issues  — SOUP, my daily staple and favorite thing to eat in the winter.  I can’t count how many variations of the ever-popular cauliflower greens soup I make for myself and my clients from fall right through spring. Cauliflower is one of the most reliable vegetables for soups available in most of the year; it blends well with an endless variety of ingredients and always results in a perfectly velvety texture.  Because there are no flavorful winter squash, zucchini, sweet corn or tomatoes during the coldest months, (unless you’ve stashed a supply of kabocha before it disappeared from the market), cauliflower along with carrots and broccoli are the veggies I use primarily for creamy soups. And though I know there are potato and sweet potato soups to be made, neither feels nourishing to me, although a little sweet potato or yam can sweeten up that pale butternut squash when you’re in a pinch. Other than that, they’re not what I want eat for a few days in a row, which is my whole point of making a pot of soup—easy comforting meals on hand and ready in minutes. Topped with a drizzle of flax oil, some chopped parsley and scallions, toast or crackers on the side and you have a perfect warming lunch or dinner.

 

Photo by Stephen Johnson.

Thanks to everyone at Get The Gloss for featuring me as blogger of the week.

Curried cauliflower soup with spinach and nigella seeds

Using homemade curry powder is key to a deliciously fragrant soup, I vary the amount depending how strong I want the spicy flavor to be. If you end up making it stronger than you like, try stirring in a cup of coconut milk to temper it a bit. Unless I’m serving the whole pot of soup, I leave the spinach out and add a handful to each portion I heat. This way it stays bright and green and doesn’t over cook when being reheated.

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil

2 onions, diced

Sea salt

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 ½  inch piece ginger, peeled and minced

3 to 4 teaspoons homemade curry powder

1 large head cauliflower, chopped in 1 ½ inch pieces

Filtered water

Tamari to taste

3 cups baby spinach

To serve:

Cold pressed flax oil

1 tablespoon nigella seeds, toasted, see note

Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until golden. Add a pinch of salt, garlic and ginger and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Stir in curry powder and add cauliflower. Add water to just below the surface of the cauliflower and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover pot, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until cauliflower is soft. Remove from heat and blend in an upright blender until completely smooth and velvety—fill the blender half way as it will splutter and can burn you. Add more water to get desired consistency. Return soup to pot and reheat over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and tamari. Stir in baby spinach leaves and cook until softened and deep green. Remove from heat, ladle into bowls and drizzle with flax oil and a pinch of nigella seeds

Note: nigella seeds are black caraway seeds. They can be found in Indian markets and some Middle Eastern markets. To toast: warm a small skillet over medium heat add tablespoon of seeds and toast for a minute or two or until fragrant. Don’t over toast, as they will become bitter. Remove from pan and set aside until ready to serve the soup.


POSTED IN Soup

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