Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Cumin

This was supposed to be a Meatless Monday post, but after all the tornadoes in Alabama early yesterday we were without internet service most of yesterday, so you get Meatless Tuesday!

Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but whatever.  Hubs and I are heading to Costa Rica next week with two other couples which means I have to get into a bathing suit.  IN PUBLIC!  

So I made a big pot of this soup and damn is it good.  It's a combination of a few different recipes.  I wanted to find a way to give the cauliflower a little more flavor than simply steaming it.  Not a fan of steamed vegetables.   However I'm a HUGE fan of roasted vegetables and Melissa Clark has a great roasted cauliflower recipe that involves roasting the cauliflower with cumin seeds that is amazing.   So I went that route and then adapted a Cooking Light recipe for the rest of the soup.  

This is easy, full of flavor, and a creative way to get more vegetables in your diet.  Especially if you have to get into a bathing suit next to skinny bitches anytime soon!

Here's the recipe:

Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Cumin

Adapted from Cooking Light and Melissa Clark

Ingredients:

Two heads of cauliflower florets 

1 tablespoon of whole cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground cumin

one medium yellow onion, chopped

two cloves of garlic, chopped

4 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken stock

1 3/4 cup fat free milk

olive oil

salt

pepper

Directions:

Cut florets into approximately the same size pieces and put on roasting sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and cumin seeds.  Toss to coat and roast at 400 degrees until almost fork tender.

While cauliflower is roasting, in a dutch oven, saute onion in a little olive oil until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.  Add in garlic and saute for additional minute.  Add roasted caluiflower to pot with onions and garlic.  Add in two cups of chicken stock and all of milk, along with the teaspoon of ground cumin.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree mixture in blender.  Return mixture to pot and add additional two cups of chicken stock.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.  (I also added in some red pepper flakes for additional heat, but leave out if this is not your thing)

I served mine with some homemade croutons.