Roasted Cauliflower and Carrot Soup with Cabbage

So if you watch my instastories you may have noticed I purée most of my soups. I prefer a chunky soup, but my daughters kinda don’t want to know what’s in there. In essence, I purée to camouflage the ingredients. God forbid a piece of onion should be visible. I love making soup, especially when it’s cold out, and I wanted to not bludgeon all these gorgeous vegetables to death with my soup blender. Guess what; my daughter liked it just the same! You never know until you try, right?

This beautiful golden soup with bursts of orange because of the carrots is hearty, healthy, and filling. Any soup served in mini crocs, should you happen to have a few, tastes extra yummy. I made these crunchy basmati rice cakes to accompany the soup. I was making rice but must’ve not added enough water, since the rice was too hard to serve. I didn’t want to waste it so voila; some creative repurposing turned the dried rice into homemade rice cakes. Alone or dipped into the soup, they’re like giant fresh rice croutons.

Ingredients for soup:

A bag of carrots, peeled and cut into half inch thick rounds

2 heads cauliflower cut into small pieces

Half a small head of green cabbage shredded

1 diced Spanish onion

4 garlic cloves coarsely chopped

4 boxes of vegetable stock

A bay leaf

A tsp and a half each cumin, turmeric, and dried oregano

Half a cup each chopped dill and parsley

A can of rinsed chickpeas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. In two separate pans, mix the carrots and cauliflower each with the minced garlic, olive oil, and a light amount of salt. Roast until the vegetables start to caramelize, the cauliflower will be longer.

Heat two tbsp olive oil in a very large soup pot. This recipe makes a ton. Cut in in half if you’re a normal person who doesn’t feel compelled to make soup for 90 imaginary people. Sauté the chopped onion, adding the turmeric, oregano, and cumin. The onions will be fragrant and yellow. When the onions are well sautéed add the roasted vegetables, stock, bay leaf, and two tsp salt and half a tsp pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer on low uncovered for 45 minutes. Add the chickpeas, dill, and parsley and heat for another ten minutes. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Instructions for rice cakes:

Two cups cooked white rice, slightly underdone. Mix the rice with two beaten eggs. Form the mixture into patties and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown on each side. Serve with soup, it’s kind of like a giant crouton that you can dip. The rice cakes can also be served like a cracker with the savory top of your choice, say a tapenade or hummus.