Fresh From The Farmer's Market by Janet Fletcher

This was the very first dish I prepared for Chelsea, after committing myself to becoming a decent cook for the both of us. It comes from an AMAZING book Chelsea got for me (which I highly recommend):  Fresh From The Farmer’s Market by Janet Fletcher (pictured at left).

Chelsea got my copy at her favorite store, Anthropologie, but if you click the link, you’ll find it’s available from Amazon, too.

This is a fabulous and — more importantly — SIMPLE soup to prepare. As a Kitchen Novice, I was terrified to cook a soup; it just seems so… professional. To my great pleasure, this recipe is a snap, and the resulting fare is fantastic.

I should add, at the outset, that the original recipe calls for Chicken Broth. I substituted a Vegetarian Broth, and I don’t believe the recipe suffered as a result. Here’s my version of this soup:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 Large Onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• ¼ cup Chopped Cilantro
• 1 lb. Cauliflower Florets
• 1 Baking Potato (8 to 10 ounces), peeled, in ½-inch cubes
• 2 cups homemade or canned Chicken Broth*
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup Milk

*You may substitute Vegetarian boullion or broth

SERVES 6

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil in a large pot over moderate heat. Add onion and saute until soft and sweet, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cilantro and saute 1 minute to release garlic fragrance.

Add cauliflower, potato, broth, 3 cups water and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then cover, adjust heat to maintain a bare simmer and cook until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Puree in a food processor or pass through a food mill. Return to a clean pot and stir in milk. Reheat to serving temperature. Taste and adjust seasoning.

PHOTO GALLERY

Simple, Fresh Ingredients = Good Food!

SUMMARY & REVIEW

It’s “Thumbs Up” for this super-simple soup. Prep time was minimal; it should take about 5 minutes to prep the ingredients (it took me slightly longer as I prepared a Vegetarian broth using Vegan Bouillon). Overall, it still took less than one hour from Start to Plating. That’s not bad for a dish I was afraid to even try!

My only complaint is that the soup lacks the texture I expected. I would encourage you to puree the ingredients cautiously… make sure you leave some good, hearty bits of Cauliflower!

Also, it could have been a bit saltier, but that’s my own damned fault. That pesky “Salt to taste” thing always throws me off.

That said, I LOVE the ingredients in this recipe. Even this Kitchen Novice (i.e. ME) already had the ingredients, save the fresh bits (Cauliflower and Cilantro), which I don’t expect I’ll ever have ‘on hand’ on any given day. Bravo to the simplicity!

I served it up (see photo above right) with a few slices off the freshly baked Kalamata Olive loaf from our local Farmer’s Market, adding a simple garnish and a pad of butter to make it look cool. I do that last bit for Chelsea.

A REASON TO RATE!

Prep Time: 8.75
Simplicity: 8.5
Ingredients: 9
Taste: 7.75
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Average Score: 8.5

(1=Poor; 10=Excellent)