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Roasted Cauliflower & Red Pepper Soup + Giveaway!

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It’s time for another giveaway on the blog! It’s my way of saying thank you for following along and thank you for sticking around for the ride these past four years! I say this time and time again, I would not be able to do this without any of you. I mean sure, I’d still be posting recipes up on this corner of the internet, no matter what, but you guys make it worth while. Your comments, feedback and suggestions mean so much to me. I read them all. There are so many great new cookbooks out right now, with even more on the way. It’s insane, and hard to keep with them. I’m trying my best though. The Love & Lemons Cookbook from the blog of the same name, is great if you love healthy, seasonal, produce-driven, gluten-free, and vegan recipes. It’s divided by produce beginning with apples, all the way down to zucchini! Now, I’m not at all gluten-free or vegan, I love my meat and chicken and bread, but it’s still very satisfying. This Roasted Red Pepper & Cauliflower Soup for instance, is so tasty, that I don’t even miss the meat. Plus, who doesn’t love cauliflower? I’m obsessed with it. 

Just in case you’re new here and don’t know how the giveaways work, all you have to do is leave a comment below to enter, telling me what your all-time favorite vegetable is. (The last time we talked about fruits). Tell me what your favorite veggie is and what dish you like to cook or eat that features said veggie. You have until Monday night to enter, and as always, my mamma will be picking the winner at random and you’ll be notified via email! I like to keep things fair, so please only one comment per person. And anyone is welcome to enter, which is an added bonus! We love reading stories and memories, so if you can, leave more than just a one word answer, although those are okay too. But tell me everything about why you love this vegetable and/or vegetable dish. I want to know everything. 

Speaking of cookbooks, if you haven’t already heard or read, my first cookbook, The Slider Effect, is up for preorder right now as we speak! For a limited time only, anyone who preorders the book will receive a free exclusive ebook with 5 recipes not featured in the cookbook (or anywhere else for that matter). All you have to do is forward your confirmation or a take a screenshot of it and send it to theslidereffect@gmail.com. Preorders are very important, so it’ll mean a lot to me if you grab yourself a copy ahead of time and tell all of your friends and family about it! Amazon has it for way less than the listed price…what a time to be alive! Take advantage of it now! Plus you get an ebook which seals the deal and makes everything right. Did I mention that the book is all about sliders?! There are four chapters on sliders (Meat, Poultry, Seafood and Vegetarian) with a chapter on homemade buns and a chapter on homemade sauces! It’ll change the way you look at sliders, I promise! 

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Let’s start by cutting down the cauliflower into small floret pieces. Then transferring them onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and then toss to fully combine. 

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**Note: Make sure to shake the pan so that the cauliflower ends up in a single layer. They’ll cook evenly if in a single layer.**

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Roast in a preheated 400 degree F oven for about 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. On a separate baking sheet, toss together the sliced onion and garlic cloves with olive oil salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes. 

**Tip: Keep a close eye on the onions and garlic, as they will cook faster, and depending on how thin you sliced them, can take much less time than the cauliflower.**

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Remove the veggies from the oven and let cool slightly. Reserve about 1 cup of the roasted cauliflower for garnish. Combine the rest of the ingredients, along with the cauliflower and onions and peeled garlic, in a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth and well combined. 

**Tip: You can also do this in a food processor, although you’ll have to do it in batches because everything won’t fit in all at once.**

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Serve the soup in large mugs or bowls, and top with a drizzle of olive oil, roasted cauliflower, chili flakes (for some heat) and scallions (for some color). It’ll just make the soup look a bit more elegant. 

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The great thing about this soup is that you can serve it at room temperature, warm, or pour it into a large saucepan and heat it through over low. I love my soups hot, so I warmed it. It’s also great cold though the next day. So if you want to serve it at a party but don’t want to worry about the temperature of it, just serve it cold or room temperature.  

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I’m all about texture when it comes to my food, so I love that this soup is smooth, but the chunky garnishes on the top really give it a nice bite. If you like a crunchy texture on top (I love that too) then try adding toasted pine nuts as a garnish as well. That would be great! 

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This recipe uses white miso paste, and it’s really hard to come by especially in a lot of smaller stores. I had a hard time finding it, so what I did instead was substitute soft tofu for it, and it worked great! It gave the soup a tiny bit of a grainer texture but I didn’t mind it at all. It really bound everything together. So if you can’t find miso paste either, then try the soft tofu! 

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Don’t forget to enter the giveaway by leaving a comment below! Tell me what your favorite vegetable is and what you like it in! For example, my favorite vegetable is broccoli rabe (or broccolini), and I love with spicy sausage and Orecchiette! It’s so good. Everyone is invited to enter, and remember that it’s only one entry per person. Let’s keep things fair for everyone. You have until Monday to leave your comment. One lucky winner will be picked at random by my mamma (it’s her all time favorite thing to do) and will be notified via email! If you’ve participated before, then you know how much I and my mamma, love to read your comments, so make sure to give us as much detail as possible. One word answers are good, but I love hearing your stories and background to some of your answers. They’re amazing. Good luck, I’m rooting for you! 

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Roasted Cauliflower & Red Pepper Soup
 
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This Roasted Cauliflower & Red Pepper Soup from The Love & Lemons Cookbook is not only amazing but incredibly easy to make! Its perfect for lunch or dinner!
Author:
Serves: 4 Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 1 small yellow onion, sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked 3 to 4 hours or overnight
  • 3 tablespoons white miso paste
  • 3 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 3 whole roasted red bell peppers, fresh or from a jar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sherry or white wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup sliced scallions, for garnish
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Line two baking sheets with foil or parchment paper. On one baking sheet, spread out the cauliflower, and on the other, spread out the sliced onion and garlic cloves. Divide the oil between both, drizzling over the cauliflower and onion and garlic. Season each with salt and pepper (about ½ a teaspoon of each onto each baking sheet). Toss with your fingers and then spread out onto an even layer. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Check at 20 minutes, as the onion might roast faster. Remove from oven and set aside.
  3. Drain and rinse the soaked cashews and place them in a high-speed blender. Peel the roasted garlic cloves and add them to the blender with the cauliflower (reserving about a cup for garnish), onion, miso paste, fresh water, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, and roasted red bell peppers. Blend until creamy, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a splash of vinegar and stir. You can serve warm, room temperature or pour the soup mixture into a large saucepan and heat over low flame until warmed through.
  4. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, reserved roasted cauliflower, and scallions. Enjoy!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Asparagus is my favorite veg, and probably my favorite way to eat it is simply steamed, with melted butter. But there is also asparagus with a fried or poached egg on top for a quick, elegant dinner.

    Reply

  5. My favorite vegetable is spinach – so versatile! I put it in my omelettes, smoothies, dinners, etc. My favorite way to eat it is sauteed with garlic and baked on top of a chicken breast or fish fillet. Delicious!

    Reply

  6. Zucchinis. Happy childhood memories of family lunches and too much food 🙂 my Nonna makes them sliced and battered – I love visiting her because she knows they are my favourite and makes ridiculous amounts of them for me 🙂

    Reply

    • Your Nonna knows what’s up Sarah! Fried zucchini is my guilty pleasure! I have a fried zucchini slider in my book, and it’s easily my favorite out of all of them!

      Reply

  8. Yummy soup! LOVE your blog and photos. Favorite veg is tomato…or is that a fruit? I love it on BLTs with thick bacon and hellmans mayo….or simply fresh sliced with salt and pepper.

    Reply

  10. I love carrots! I thinly slice them;combine with sliced onions and saute in butter until softened. I serve them on top of mashed potatoes. It goes great with everything. I especially like this with pork chops. My friends and family always ask for this so I make it often.

    Reply

  11. I like broccoli roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper! It is good with ALL the things this way. Mostly just from the cookie sheet as I am dishing it out to wherever it is supposed to go.

    Reply

  13. I love your website, I think your blog is awesome. I am a true devotee.

    My favorite is Brussels Sprouts coated in olive oil with lemon pepper sprinkled on and baked in the oven @375 for around 25 minutes. I think it is amazing.

    Reply

  15. Asparagus! It’s great served with chicken smothered in a mustard cream sauce or even for breakfast with a poached egg!

    Reply

  16. I love artichokes! I marinate them whole and wrap em in in foil before sticking them in the grill to roast. Takes a little time, but sooo worth it.

    Reply

  18. I’m with ellen K, tomato! cherries, beefsteak, raw with salt and pepper or in caprese salad, grilled, stuffed, on sandwiches, so many ways. My all time favorite though is made into a sauce, my dad would make a giant pot that cooked for days. We’d have spaghetti with meatballs then freeze some that my mom would make her oh so yummy lasagna with. All six of us around the table having lasagna – sweet memory.

    Reply

  20. shiitakes! i love it when they get cooked down until really dark and they get glazed and caramelized with soy sauce and other goodies. i love adding them to the bottom of chawanmushi, or mixing them into sticky rice with lap cheong (aka my favorite chinese sausage ever!).

    Reply

  21. I absolutely love vegetables so it’s hard to pick just one, but right now I’m loving sauteed brussels sprouts with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. So good!

    Reply

  24. Green beans! I actually love blanching a big batch of them to stick in the fridge and grab a handful to snack on every time I open it (so…all the time), but also sauteed with lots and lots garlic and sometimes a dash of oyster sauce.

    Reply

  25. I love cucumbers! Recently my friend taught me this pasta recipe with cream sauce, salmon, and cucumbers. ….Plus they double as a face mask, i meaaan what doesn’t get better than that?? Vegetable versatility!!

    Reply

  26. Broccoli. Especially when it’s roasted in olive oil and salt (with a little lemon). It’s something I made for my partner when I was trying to impress her, and it worked!

    Reply

  27. Oh that is so hard. I’m debating between green beans, just like that, fresh and crunchy or spinach with strawberries and a maple-balsamic vinegar. But I also love broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts, sweet peppers, mushrooms! Mushroom is definitely a favorite, sauteed or course with butter.

    Reply

  28. I love cauliflower! It’s so versatile and I’m glad it’s been getting more attention over the past few years. I feel like a lot of people think of it as some bland, white food when it’s really not!

    Reply

  32. I freakin love fresh farmers market asparagus. I live in Louisiana so asparagus season has well past and it’s killing me seeing it just pop up for the rest of the world (via Instagram)! when I was in college I used to come home from a night out drinking, steam some asparagus, and serve with a simple drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. pretty sure I win most random drunk food snack award ?

    Reply

  33. My favorite veggie is broccoli. I love it roasted with ghee and garlic with a squeeze of lemon, but I also love to trash it up sometimes in a good old fashioned bowl of broccoli cheese soup…. which is really just a vehicle for good bread lol. Carbs for life.

    Reply

  34. I don’t know if garlic is a vegetable, but I LOVE garlic! I used it all the time, but my favorite thing to do with it is make roasted garlic soup. Yum! If that’s not considered a vegetable (Google wasn’t much help), then my favorite vegetable is cauliflower. Cauliflower, olive oil, salt and some pepper baked until slightly crunchy is my favorite!

    Laura
    http://laurelandfern.com/

    Reply

  35. Chard is hands down my favorite vegetable. Sure it isn’t as commonplace as spinach or glamorous as kale, but I love the mild flavor that is somehow sweet and bitter at the same time. Personally, I’m totally fine with chard not getting all the press, because that just means more for me. There are so many recipes floating around that use bacon, lots of cheese, and cream to jazz up a bunch of chard. However, I say leave well enough alone and simply sautee it (stems and all) with a bit of garlic and oil until the stalks are tender. Just when I take it off the heat I throw in a splash of red wine vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice to really make the chard sing. I have eaten this straight from the pan, as a side to grilled shrimp, or most recently, on a slice of toast with a fried egg.

    Reply

  36. Broccoli. Raw, steamed, cooked, baked, fried, covered in chocolate. Okay, I haven’t tried that–yet. My favorite way to eat broccoli is to drizzle it, along with a lot of crushed garlic, with olive oil, toss with salt and pepper and cayenne pepper, and roast till browned and crisp. I could eat the whole tray!

    Reply

  37. Yes!!! I could eat this all day. I like how it doesn’t have to be hot – that makes it easy to menu plan if need be! My favorite veggie is…..cauliflower. It is just versatile and BUTTERY!! My life got easier when I started buying it frozen, though. It is such a mess to clean up. I like everything else fresh, but frozen cauliflower all the way!

    Reply

  38. My favorite vegetable is definitely Brussels sprouts! I like them shredded and sautéed with maple syrup 🙂

    Reply

  40. I love green beans. They go with everything, I especially like when restaurants that have green beans in their tempura!

    Reply

  41. I must admit, I’m crushing on cauliflower at the moment. Just posted a recipe with brown butter, toasted hazelnuts and golden raisins which has replaced my other favorite preparations – drowned in either a fabulous cheese sauce or in a spicy curry 🙂

    Reply

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