the cooked and the raw

‘Blogging-wise’ I’ve been rather lazy in the past few days (more than one week, actually) …but I’m finally back with a recipe for an easy late-winter, early-spring comforting soup. This has a smooth, velvety texture that many I’m sure will like… Cauliflower and carrot are sweet vegetables that provide an excellent contrast to the spicy, fresh ginger.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

½ medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium sized cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces

5 carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

1 tablespoon fresh, minced ginger (and some more for garnish)

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

whole sea salt (to taste)

fresh parsley, for garnish

Place the bite sized pieces of cauliflower and carrot in a steamer fitted over a saucepan, add enough water to come just below the bottom of the steamer and sprinkle some salt over the vegetables. Bring to a boil and steam just until crisp tender (it will take about 15-20 minutes, over medium heat). In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or wok over medium heat, add the onion, ginger and sea salt and sautè until fragrant, for about 5-10 minutes. Add the soy milk, reduce the heat and cook for about 5 minutes. When the vegetables are crisp-tender, remove them from the steamer (but keep the cooking water), add them to the soy milk and onion mixture and sautè for a few minutes. Remove the vegetables from the heat and transfer them in the bowl of a food processor, add about half a cup of the cooking water you saved and process until smooth. Add some more water for a runnier soup. Adjust seasoning as needed, stir the soup into serving bowls, drizzle some olive oil onto it and garnish with fresh parsley and fresh, minced ginger.