Curried Cauliflower Soup: Healthy & Vegan for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I have been seeing reviews for How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger M.D. and its companion The How Not to Die Cookbook: 100+ Recipes to Help Prevent and Reverse Disease so I put in hold requests at the library. The cookbook came in first and I was happy to see that the recipes are by one of my favorite vegetarian/ vegan cookbook authors, Robin Robertson. 

There are some tasty looking recipes in the book--all salt, sugar, and oil-free, emphasizing the "daily dozen" healthy foods Dr. Greger recommends eating every day and limiting any processed ingredients. The Curried Cauliflower Soup caught my eye and craving curry this week, I decided to try it. 
 

Curried Cauliflower Soup
From The How Not To Die Cookbook by Michael Greger M.D., FACLM & Robin Robertson
(Makes 4 Servings)

4 cups vegetable broth (homemade or low/no sodium) (I used homemade garlic broth)
1 red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp date sugar (I used coconut sugar)
1 tsp Savory Spice Blend (recipe below)
1 head cauliflower, trimmed and coarsely chopped
2 tsp blended peeled lemon (see note below) (I used 3 tsp)
(I added 1 Tbsp of white miso paste)
1 plum tomato, finely chopped, for garnish

Heat 1 cup of the broth in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook about 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, date sugar, and Savory Spice Blend. Add the cauliflower and remaining 3 cups of broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered about 30 minutes, until cauliflower is soft. 

Puree the soup in a blender or food processor, working in batches if necessary, or using an immersion blender. Stir in the lemon; then taste and adjust the seasoning as desired. Ladle into bowls and serve hot, garnished with the chopped tomato.

Blended Whole Lemon:  The author notes that rather than cooking with juice, use the blended whole fruit to get more fiber and nutrition. They recommend peeling a whole lemon or lime, blending it in a blender and freezing it in 1 teaspoon portions in a small silicone ice cube tray to grab when you need it.

Soup Variations: When ready to serve add any of the following for a slightly different take: cooked brown, red or black rice; green peas; chopped spinach; minced chives; or diced scallions. 

Savory Spice Blend
From The How Not To Die Cookbook by Michael Greger M.D., FACLM & Robin Robertson
(Makes about 1/2 Cup)

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp dried basil
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dry mustard (mustard powder)
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp celery seeds

Combine all ingredients in a spice grinder or blender to mix well and pulverize the dried herbs and spices. Transfer spice mix to a shaker bottle or jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in a cool, dry place.

Notes/Results: This is a pretty healthy soup--vegan and no oil, minimally processed sugar (the recipe called for date sugar which I did not have so I used coconut sugar) and no salt but it still has quite a bit of flavor with the curry powder and the Savory Spice Blend. Still, although I thought it was good, it was missing the pop of flavor that salt brings--and I say that as a low-salter--meaning I usually reduce the salt considerably in recipes. I noticed that instead of salt, many of the recipes in the book use miso paste, the author citing that "the anticarcinogenic and antihypertensive benefits of soy may be enough to counter the effects of the salt." So I added another teaspoon of the blended lemon mixture and put in a tablespoon of white miso paste and that did the trick, giving it the balanced flavor I was looking for. I would make this soup again. 

We have some tasty dishes waiting in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week, let's have a look!

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared a Seafood Soup her son made and said, "Tristan had made a seafood soup tossing in ingredients here and there, so he brought his pot of soup over for me to try. ... I must say he did a good job on this soup with no recipe at all.  Since he was playing bachelor he could add in ingredients his wife doesn't care for like onions and bell peppers. It was great!"

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen made this Giant Couscous Salad and said, "I had not planned to make this Giant Cous Cous Salad, but we had nothing in the fridge as that particular weekend neither of us felt well enough to leave the house and venture far.  In the fridge I found half a butternut squash left over from Tagine I made a few days back and some red peppers.  I know peppers are not in season, I know that - but I always have them  for colour and for convenience to throw together dishes like this; and for some reason I had picked up a fennel bulb.  I also came across a packet of Jumbo or Giant Cous Cous that I thought would make a change from our usual pasta salad lunches."

 
Debra of Eliot's Eats shared Ancho Chicken Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Cabbage and said, "If you’re an avid reader of EE, then you know that we’ve subscribed to Blue Apron for some time.  We do a box every other week and order the 2-serving sized meals.   I have all the meal cards saved for later use and possible posts with modifications.   We’ve had some really delicious meals. One that we made recently was so good that I wanted to share it here.  I modified the instructions a bit."

Thanks to Tina, Shaheen & Debra for joining me this week at Souper Sundays!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on the post you link up to be included.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!