Tomato Cauliflower Soup with Thai Basil

Our Thai basil has flourished and it has become an outstanding addition to some of our go-to meals around here.

I have been on a cauliflower kick lately. It has been looking very decent at the grocery market, and up here in winter, I like to take advantage of the rarity of good produce. Cauliflower is fabulous roasted or raw in salads, but lately I have been enjoying it as a bulk adding ingredient in soups and stews. As a person with insulin resistance, I am all too familiar with how blah some dishes can get without a starch to ‘beef up’ a recipe. Potatoes do terrible things to my blood sugar. Luckily, cauliflower is a decent substitute. I don’t make pureed cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes or anything like that. I just like it added as al ow carb vegetable that doesn’t alter the taste of the dish too much. Although I keep hearing ‘riced cauliflower’ in mock fried rice is awesome. I might need to try that.

Tomato Cauliflower Soup with Thai Basil

1/4 cup olive oil
2 oz tomato paste
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
2 carrots diced
4 celery stalks sliced
1/2 cup diced vidalia onion
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 sweet yellow pepers diced
1 cup raw cabbage chopped tiny
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
40+ leaves to taste fresh Thai Basil
3 cups cauliflower finely chopped
10 cups water

In a large stock pot combine olive oil, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and sauteed for 15 minutes until garlic is browned. Add the water and all other ingredients, minus the Thai basil, to the pot and turn the heat up to a light simmer. Let simmer on low, with cover on, for 90 minutes.
After 90 minutes, the veggies should be softened. Take a taste in case you want more salt or spices. Continue to simmer on low heat, UNcovered, for another 90 minutes. Toss in your Thai basil leaves whole in the last 10 minutes. The more the better! For a big pot of soup like this, I’ve seriously added 80 leaves when I had that much. My husband grows our Thai basil in our plant starter room downstairs, so we have an abundance. It is cheap at the farmers market though.

This soup is both savory and sweet. The lack of starch also makes it pretty diet friendly if you’re looking to shed some post holiday bloat. This version is vegetarian, but sometimes I add diced roasted chicken to balance it for a meal. Some white beans are delicious too.

I am thinking my next cauliflower soup should involve wild rice. My husband is a fiend for wild rice and it is fun to watch how giddy he can get over it in a dish. Gotta love a guy who is easy to please!