Meatless Monday: For those who detest Cauliflower Soup

Mills Beach. Mornington.

It's cold in Melbourne, and after a long bracing walk along the beach and up the cliff, I wanted soup for lunch to help warm me up.

Cauliflower isn't my favourite vegetable, but it was cheap and in season, so I'd bought one yesterday ... because it seemed a good idea, not because I really wanted one. So, there I was walking along planning Cauliflower soup - until I got distracted by a group of animated geology students discussing rock formations with more hand waving and enthusiasm than you would have thought possible. I felt sorry for the students as I imagined them picnicking on the beach.
But maybe they ended up at the pub which would have been pleasant :-)

Cauliflower Soup
Ingredients

• onion - 1 small - roughly chopped
• garlic - 1 large clove - chopped
• chilli - sprinkle of dried
• potato - 1 extra large - roughly chopped
• cauliflower - 1/4 chopped or broken into bits, including the stem
• a shake of salt and a grind of pepper
• stock cube or stock
• about a teaspoon or so of Tikka Masala paste
• a small slosh of white wine (not necessary, but the cask isn't very nice so it seems a good use for it)
• a smidge of olive oil or butter

Method

• Melt butter or heat oil, add onion, garlic & chilli. Stir till sizzling then add the small slosh of wine just to stop it sticking. 
• Add the potato and cauliflower and stir.
• Add soup stock (or water and stock cube) and Tikka Masala paste. The stock doesn't need to cover the vegetables entirely.

The cauliflower soup cooked in about 20 minutes, I buzzed it with the wand thing and ate it with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of coriander. It was good and didn't taste strongly of cauliflower.

I've never grown coriander successfully before, but this year I have mounds of it. I've made Coriander Pesto which is nice as a dip with fresh veggies and just discovered that I've managed to dry some by leaving it in an open container of the bench. (I'd chopped it to use on something earlier in the week). The wood heater in the evening and general chill the rest of the time must have provided just the right conditions! 

I've cut a bunch, chopped it and laid it on a plate to see if I can repeat the drying process - it'd be great to have some stored for when the plants die off.


Any suggestions for additions?


*I have no idea why the formatting shows white behind some areas, that's new but I can't be fussed trying to figure it out.
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