Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup

Here's another recipe for the books. Again Bountiful Baskets provided us with a challenge, that is why I love them so much. They had a whole head of cauliflower and two leeks in the basket a couple weeks ago, which is great, we love cauliflower raw, but leeks?? EEK! I've never worked with them before, in fact, I didn't even know that's what they were until I saw this recipe and it called for leeks. I googled Leek and it just so happened that's what was in my fridge, Perfect! Anyways, this recipe was a bit bland when I read through it, so again I added a little bit of flavor and a whole lot of love. The outcome was delicious, a great use for cauliflower besides the usual steamed side dish and a learning opportunity on what a leek is and how cook them.

Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs dried parsley
• 1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 leeks, white part only, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cans chicken stock
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion salt
• 1/4 tsp dried mustard
• 1 slice american cheese or 2 tbs shredded parmesan cheese
• 10 spinach leaves torn in half

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Stir garlic, olive oil, 1 tsp salt and 1 tbs parsley together in a small bowl. Arrange cauliflower florets on a baking sheet; pour oil mixture over cauliflower. Toss to coat.
3. Bake cauliflower in the preheated oven until tender and lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
4. Melt butter in a 4-quart stockpot over medium heat; cook and stir leeks and flour in the melted butter until fragrant and well blended, 5 to 10 minutes. Whisk in chicken stock, and cream; simmer until well blended. Add cauliflower, Spinach, 2nd tsp of parsley, 2nd tsp salt, onion salt, garlic powder, mustard, cheese and pepper into the soup; simmer until desired thickness, 15 to 20 more minutes.