Silky Cauliflower Soup

I was in the mood for some healthier food when Smitten Kitchen posted a silky cauliflower soup that she likes to make. The recipe is by Dave Lieberman, and since Deb gave it an endorsement, I gave it a try.

What the recipe has going for it is that it's super easy to make, has only a few ingredients, and I thought the texture had a nice silky feel like the name describes. I also like that there isn't cream or whole milk which keeps the soup light. It's a nice option for lunch or dinner when you don't have a lot of time and you likely have most of the ingredients at home. But with the simple ingredients, the flavors are straight forward and aren't going to have a big wow factor.

(Note, I didn't make the Parmesan crisps mentioned in the recipe.)

After the cauliflower cooked through

I used Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, which has strong flavor, and regular chicken stock instead of a low-sodium version. While the cauliflower and cheese flavors come through, the soup can be one-note without other ingredients to build more flavor. Some reviews called the soup bland. But when I think of bland, I think a dish may need more seasoning with salt and pepper. This recipe doesn't specify an amount of salt and pepper so I added enough to suit my taste.

Soup blended to silky texture with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

The soup could benefit from more flavors by adding celery, using leeks, or adding cayenne. But it's not a terrible option if you need to make something in a jif.  I also made raw Brussels sprouts salad to serve with this soup which you can find out more about here.

My Rating (out of 5): 3

Sausage, Kale, and Lentil Soup

I came across this soup recipe by Rachel Ray a few years ago and I've been making it on a regular basis since. It's hearty, delicious, and has nutritious ingredients like kale and lentils. It's great for bringing to work for lunch, filling as a meal on its own, and comforting in chilly weather.

Sausage, kale, and lentil soup with sweet potato

Each time I make this, I make some tweaks if an ingredient is not available at the grocery store. I've used sweet Italian sausage and added crushed red pepper flakes if hot Italian sausage was out at the store. If I can't find Fresno peppers, I'll use a different red chili pepper that is available or crushed red pepper flakes. I've used curly kale if Tuscan kale was not available.

Sweet Italian sausage

I've always made this with a Russet potato. But since it's fall, I decided to change it up a bit and used sweet potato instead which has more nutritious benefits. So the pictures I've shared here will have sweet potato in them. 

I often buy pre-chopped packages of kale, which probably has more in quantity than a bunch of kale does. I use the entire bag in the soup. Pre-chopped bags usually have the stem intact, and I don't bother to remove them for this recipe since it's time consuming. And this is a soup, so the stems get soft while it cooks. But if I buy a bunch of kale, I'll remove the stems in those instances.

Tomato paste and white wine really add flavor to the soup so I would not suggest omitting or substituting these ingredients.

The one difference from the recipe that I make is the amount of lentils. I use 1 to 1-1/4 cups of lentils instead of 1-3/4 cups that the recipe lists. I think that amount of uncooked lentils would soak up too much liquid and I wonder if it is typo in the published recipe.

I like to use red lentils

This is a chunky soup. So I like to reserve 1 cup of chicken stock and wait to add it in the last 5 minutes that the soup simmers. This way the soup has some liquid in case it reduced too much while it simmered.

Leftovers are just as delicious and I never get tired of eating this soup!

My Rating (out of 5): 4.5