Right Now: Cauliflower-Leek Soup

And a soup season primer

There's a nice cauliflower-leek soup at the end of this post. It's blended with a big handful of fresh parsley for a pop of color. With crisp croutons, maybe with melted cheese on top and a salad alongside, it's a nice weeknight meal. 

In this dispatch, I also wanted to highlight all the ways you can make a very good vegetable-based soup with what you have on hand. There are a couple key ways to make a delicious soup, depending on time or the nature of the vegetables you have on hand. 

In general, you'll need an allium or a few, about 4 - 6 cups of chopped vegetables, and a quart of broth.

Two Ways to Soup

The first method is to roast whatever vegetables you want to include, simmer them in broth, and then reduce in the blender. Make your soup chunky with a few quick pulses or let the blender rip and puree to a silky texture. These roasted soups capture all the smoky richness of roasted vegetables and the method can be used for everything from roasted cauliflower to tomatoes to all kinds of squash. Check out this roasted tomato soup and this ginger pumpkin soup for variations on the form.

The second main method is a stovetop simmer. The stovetop method is quicker than roasting and makes for a soup with vibrant flavor and color. The stovetop method is most often used for potato soups, and here, with cauliflower and leeks, it works beautifully. I like the stovetop method best for starchy vegetables or soups where I really want to preserve the vegetable’s color. The method is adaptable and can be used with just about any vegetable, too. For variations on this method, check out this broccoli-cheddar soup or this carrot-fennel one. 

It Starts with Broth

Much of your soup's flavor will come from the broth. I tend to have jars of chicken bone and vegetable broth stored in my freezer, but if you need a store-bought option with excellent flavor, try Better Than Bouillon roasted chicken or vegetarian no-chicken flavor. They take up very little space and make many quarts of broth for the price of a little jar. Find it at Costco for a deal. I also like Imagine brand chicken and no-chicken broths. Opt for low-sodium, since the full salt kind can be a bit much.

Cauliflower-Leek Soup with Parsley

Make sure to thoroughly clean your leeks, as sand tends to lurk deep in the crevices. Halve the leeks, swish in a sink of cold water, and give the sand time to settle, or just rinse the chopped pieces in a mesh sieve. 

I love the way butter and leeks meld, but if you'd like to make the soup vegan, sub olive oil for the butter and use vegetable broth.