Almost Vegan Cheesy Cauliflower Soup!

For date night this past weekend, my husband and I decided to go to Zupas. They have a Wisconsin Cheese Cauliflower soup there that is awesome. I said to my husband, "I wonder if I can recreate that at home?" Well, I did it. It came out Awesome! This will be a new favorite in our house! I also made some homemade Almond sour cream to go on top, but you can use anything you want. I called this "Almost" vegan because it has butter and real cheese in it, but you can totally use non-dairy butter and non-dairy cheese. That would make it completely vegan. I also made a vegan cornbread inspired by this one on food.com. I'll include the full recipe at the end. Here's what to do:

Melt the butter in the pan and throw in your onion and garlic. Cook until starting to brown. While your onions are cooking, whisk together the almond milk and coconut cream in a bowl to have ready to pour in.

When the onions and garlic are done, slowly whisked in the flour, stirring constantly to make a paste.

Then whisk in almond milk and coconut cream and cook until a little thickened.

Next, add the chicken broth, stirring in slowly until all incorporated. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Bring mixture up to a slow boil.

Add Cauliflower, cover, bring back to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before putting in food processor.

Once cooled, add cauliflower only to a food processor and puree. Slowly add in liquid and puree. Pour back in to pot, Add cheese and mustard, heat through and serve! Ya'll...it is so good! MMM!

Here's the full recipe:

4 T butter

1 Medium yellow onion

1 T minced garlic

1/4 C All Purpose Flour

1.5 C Unsweetened original Almond Milk

1/2 C Canned Coconut Cream(find it in the Asian food section of your grocery store)

3.5 C Vegetable Broth (you may need a little more/ the cauliflower should be covered by the liquid)

A heaping dash of nutmeg

1 t salt

pepper to taste

1 Head of Cauliflower florets, chopped

2.5 C White Cheddar Cheese

1 t Dijon Mustard

Garnish:

Fresh chives, sour cream, hot sauce, extra cheese, and even bacon if you want! You could really get as creative as you want here!

Directions:

Melt butter, cook onions and garlic until starting to brown. Whisk in flour slowly to form a paste. Stir constantly. Whisk in almond milk and coconut milk slowly, then broth. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring to a slow boil. Add cauliflower, cover, bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Take off the heat and cool 15 minutes. Take a slotted spoon and spoon out the cauliflower into a food processor, puree. Then slowly add liquid a little at a time and puree. I had to take some out and add more liquid in because my food processor is small. You could also use a blender, but be super careful to let the mixture cool first. Blenders and food processors can explode if the liquid is too hot. I took out the top attachment in mine to let the steam escape. Once pureed, return to pot, turn on low to medium heat, add cheese, and dijon mustard. Stir it all up. Heat through and serve! Top it with your favorite baked potato toppings and serve with rolls or cornbread! MMM! And like I said before, if you want to make this vegan, swap out the butter and cheese for non-dairy versions and you're good to go!

#comfort #kids #healthy #vegan #Family #southern #cooking #food