Easy-Peasy Vegan Roasted Cauliflower Soup
Tags: Roastedcauliflower, Vegan, Italian, Cauliflowersoup

Easy-Peasy Vegan Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower is a great vegetable! It has the consistency of potatoes but less than one-third of the calories per 100 grams, can be roasted, boiled, steamed just like them, and are very flavourful.

Whenever I look to have a healthy cauliflower soup, either from a supermarket or a restaurant, there’s always cheese involved, which means a load of fats and calories added… plus the flavor of the cauliflower — which should be the main ingredient — disappears.

I’ve been dreaming of making my own, perfect soup.. so the planning began.

When thinking of how to make a light soup that has the great taste of the main course, but is light enough that can also be used as a starter…

1 — all other flavors that can deduct from such a great vegetable had to be removed,

2 — a cooking method that enhances it had to be used and, as per any respecting soup…

3 — a crunch — that doesn’t add many calories -

…were needed.

So… I went on a mission and came up with this tasty dish down here! Hope you enjoy this vegan cauliflower soup!

Easy-Peasy Vegan Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Easy, vegan and healthy!

550 g of Fresh Cauliflower Florets (chopped into bite-size chunks)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Cracked Black Pepper to Taste

10 Sprays Cooking Spray

70 g Sliced Onion

1 Vegetable Stock Cube

1700 ml Water

20 ml Lemon Juice

1/8–1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

4 Spring Onions (chopped)

Wash and chop the cauliflower florets to bite-size chunks and dry; I like to prepare these either the night before or in the morning and then leave them in a bowl to dry so that when roasting they get a bit of crust, rather than ‘steam’ because of the water. Once the pieces are sufficiently dry, mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and cracked black pepper, lay them on a baking tray, and cook for 35–45 minutes in a Fan oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius, until cooked and nicely roasted. In a large pan, about 15 minutes before the cauliflower is ready, spray the cooking spray, and, once warm, add the onion. Keep the flame to low and allow the onion to sweat, without browning for about 2 minutes, then add the stock cube and break in the pan, nicely coating the onions. Reduce flame to low. Warm-up 1700ml water in a kettle and add to the onion and stock base, then leave it to simmer until the cauliflower is ready. Once the cauliflower is ready and out of the oven, keep some pieces aside (I keep the smaller, crunchier bits on the side to add to each plate for decoration and extra texture), and add the rest to the water pot and continue simmering for about 10 minutes. Switch off the gas and let the chunky soup cool down until it is safe to blend. Before blending add the lemon juice and nutmeg to the soup, check for salt and adjust, blend and bring back to the boil. Serve with sprinkled chopped spring onion and roasted cauliflower on top.

This recipe is EASY, TASTY, and VERY LOW IN CALORIES… what more can one ask for? Modifications and options of course!!

For a richer flavor, if you have a higher calorie allowance left, when blending add a teaspoon of butter, then cook for longer to thicken up. You will need to recalculate calories given the addition and, by reducing the water amount (or boiling it for longer to reduce), you may end up with 3 (or even 2 large) portions… if you have the allowance, trust me: this is TOTALLY worth it!

The lemon in this recipe will not only add that tad of tanginess, but it will also reduce the smell of the cauliflower, which sometimes can be a bit invasive and not really appreciated by everyone.

The amount of nutmeg in this recipe is not specified to the dot, as it depends on the personal taste and the strength of the nutmeg. If unsure, start with a very small amount and add if needed.

If you do not like spring onions, you can skip it and perhaps add some croutons, boiled rice, chopped coriander, red chili flakes, or… nothing! The soup is extremely tasty on its own.

If you have the time, energy, willingness to bring out your ‘milkshake-blender’ to blitz this soup, feel free to use it. This will ensure all pieces are nicely blitzed, you won’t get covered in cauliflower splashback (or is that just me?) and for some mysterious reason, the soup will be creamier.

If you are not following a vegan diet, have enough calories to spare and can have dairy, add a little piece of butter to this oven roasted cauliflower soup recipe… there’s no need to add too much of it, it will still be the best roasted cauliflower recipe you’ve ever had!

Elle