I know that this is not the prettiest-looking soup, in fact, it’s probably the ugliest food I’ve ever made, but it is absolutely delicious! There’s something about roasting vegetables that really makes them pop, especially ones like cauliflower and garlic.

I made this recipe once, again during my internship (I need to stop bringing up these recipes, but they’re so good, that it’s not going to happen), for my rotation at the fitness center. I had a bunch of recipes picked out for people to try to incorporate more veggies into their diet and after trying this one to see if it tasted as good as the recipe sounded, I had to put it on! I think it may have even been the first recipe sent out because I loved it so much!

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Prep time: 20 min, Cook time: 1 hour 15 min, Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts only
• ½ onion
• 1 bulb garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 slices bacon, sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 carton of vegetable stock
• 1 cup half and half
• 5 cups grated sharp cheddar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Cut cauliflower florets from stalk, slice and rinse leeks, and dice onion. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet
3. Cut off the top of the garlic bulb
4. Drizzle olive oil over veggies, add salt and pepper to taste, along with Italian seasoning
5. Place baking sheet in oven and roast for 40 min (veggies will have some char on them. If you prefer less char, check every 5 min starting at 20 minutes until they are done to your liking.)
6. When there are 10 min left for the veggies in the oven, place large pot over medium-high heat.
7. Add bacon and cook until crispy; remove bacon from pot and set aside.
8. Add ½ of the veggie stock to deglaze the pot (this means to get all of the yummy bits of bacon left on the bottom of the pan into the soup. The hot liquid will give them a medium to dissolve in and help to get them off the pot for easier cleaning).
9. Remove garlic cloves from their casings and add, along with the rest of the veggies to the pot. Add in the rest of the veggie stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 min.
10. Remove ½ of the soup and blend in a blender, or use an immersion blender to puree the soup to desired texture.
11. Add pureed soup back to pot and add ½ of the bacon, half and half, and cheese to the soup and heat until soup thickens.
12. Ladle into bowls and add reserved bacon on top.

Enjoy! And happy nourishing!