Monday Night: Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Greens

The deliciousness of this soup COMPLETELY belies how few ingredients it has.  It owes its success to the magical properties of cauliflower to create creaminess without dairy and the amazing fragrance of fresh dill.   Definitely make this - it's elegant enough for a dinner party, easy enough for a weeknight, and good to make ahead.

Funny detail: The post on the Bitten Word where I found the recipe contained a teeny typo. It meant to say sprinkle with a "pinch" of sea salt, but it actually said sprinkle with a "pink" of salt.  In my quick reading, I thought it meant to sprinkle with pink sea salt, which we actually had on hand!  I'm sure regular sea salt would have been great, but ours was extra delicious thanks to our sprinkling of alaea sea salt (which pink, due to the deposits of iron oxide on the Hawaiian islands).

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Greens
Martha Stewart Living (January 2012)

Active Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes 8 cups

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Sea salt
1 medium head cauliflower (about 3 pounds), florets and stems cut into 1-inch pieces (8 to 9 cups)
4 1/2 cups filtered water
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
5 large kale leaves, tough ends removed and leaves roughly chopped
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook onion, covered, until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and a pinch of salt, and cook for 3 minutes more. Add cauliflower and pour in filtered water until it reaches just below the top of the cauliflower.

Bring to a boil over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons dill. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until cauliflower is just tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in greens, and simmer for 3 minutes.

Let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons dill. Puree soup in batches in a blender until very smooth, adding more water (about 1/2 cup) if it's too thick. Return to pot and reheat. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with dill, black pepper, a drizzle of oil and a pinch of sea salt.