Sunday's Soup/Cashew-Cauliflower-Mushroom Soup

If you decide to give this soup a try, you are in for a treat :)

My sister-in-law sent a recipe that she found in the September issue of Real Simple magazine. You can find the original recipe HERE on their website. She is always so sweet about sending bits and pieces on exhibits, art showings, and recipes that I might be interested in. But, I wonder if there is a little something to her sending recipes, as in, let Rhonda try it first ;) As with most things, I just couldn't go by the original recipe. It sounded wonderful, but I thought that I might be able to give it even more flavor. If you have looked at the Real Simple site, then you may have noticed the addition of mushrooms to my soup.  

I began by sauteing my onions in oil. I then added white mushrooms and sauteed them, along with the onions until tender. I then added the garlic and sauteed for a minute more to release the flavor of the garlic.   

The cauliflower was added, and allowed to saute along with the other vegetables for about 5 minutes.

Once the cauliflower is somewhat tender, a can of rinsed cannellini beans are added along with oregano, thyme, and 2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth. The recipe calls for fresh herbs, I used dried. 

Half of the cashews are cooked in the microwave with 1/2 cup of water, and 1/2 cup of broth. They are then placed in a blender to puree. The blended cashews are then added to the soup. You can see that the blended cashews become very milky.

If you prefer a chunky soup, you could end here, but the creamed soup is so, so good. I found that it was best to place the soup in a blender for a truly creamy consistency.

The rest of the cashews are toasted and chopped. The soup is topped with the toasted, chopped cashews. The original recipe says to drizzle the soup with a bit of olive oil. To give my soup a more robust flavor, I used a black truffle oil. Wow!!!!, was it ever delicious. 

Here's my version of the soup;

Cashew-Cauliflower-Mushroom Soup

ingredients;
1 cup raw cashews divided
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion chopped
8 oz. chopped white mushrooms
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 large head cauliflower broken into florets
1 15 oz. can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste
black truffle oil for drizzling

directions;
Place 1/2 cup of cashews, along with 1/2 cup of water, and 1/2 cup of broth in a microwave safe dish. Cover and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Put aside.

Saute onions in oil until tender. Add mushrooms and continue to saute until tender. Add garlic and saute for another minute to release flavor. Add cauliflower florets and continue to saute for 5 minutes. Add beans, herbs, salt and pepper, along with the rest of the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes.
Transfer soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot.

Chop the rest of the cashews and place in a pan to toast, paying close attention so as not to burn the nuts.

To serve, place hot soup in bowls, and top with the toasted cashews and a drizzle of black truffle oil.

  
Since there is no milk in the soup, it will freeze well, but most likely, there won't be any leftovers!

Enjoy!
Rhonda