Cauliflower tahini soup

At this point, I've settled into the swing of Fall.  It's already October! Things change so fast - we go from sizzling summer days to yellowing leaves seemingly overnight. There's such a huge difference between the whirlwind and buzz of summer and the quietness of Fall.  Each has its own merits and I'm actually happy to transition from one to the other, appreciating each in different ways.

A creamy but creamless cauliflower soup finished with tahini and garnished with toasted pine nuts

So I think it's time to settle down with soup again.  Soup is something I make and enjoy all through the year but when the weather drops, I really start to crave it and think about making it more regularly.  

Recently, I made a creamy but creamless cauliflower soup, that's finished with a spoonful of tahini.  It's a recipe I picked up from a book I read a while back, called Lunch in Paris (it's got a familiar theme of a woman's transition into a new life in Paris; there are many of these books and this was one of the more enjoyable ones I've read).  

It's really ever so simple to make, as soups often turn out to be, making you question why you ever pay unreasonable prices for it outside.  There are just four basic ingredients in this soup: cauliflower, onion, chicken stock, and a bit of tahini/sesame paste stirred in as a finishing touch to add some richness and that little something in the background.

The soup comes out practically snow white (I seasoned it with white pepper).  I topped mine with some toasted pine nuts but you could go with other options like chopped chives, a pinch of paprika, toasted garlic slices, sesame seeds, poppy seeds or maybe some cashews.  The soup may look at little bland and boring but I was scraping my bowl clean with this one.  

Sometimes, the basics are all you need for something delicious and comforting.  I love the sweetness from the onion, the background of chicken stock anchoring the flavor, and the texture and thickness from the cauliflower, which is cooked down and finally pureed into this velvety soup.  This is the time of year when I start pulling out my immersion blender and I'm very grateful to have this handy tool to make soups like this one!

Tahini roasted cauliflower

I know you may not feel like turning on the oven or roasting anything right now but despite the season, I can't seem to veer too far away from my regularly scheduled kitchen programming.  I couldn't resist sharing this because I've become smitten with this little tahini roasted cauliflower recipe.

For the most part, I'm basically a purist when it comes to vegetables ("purist" or "boring", you decide...).  I am perfectly happy with a plate of plain, steamed vegetables.  I steam carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower with almost clockwork-like regularity each week.  I also do stir-fry and love roasting vegetables but don't usually stray far from just olive oil and basic seasonings to jazz it up.

That said, I do branch out once in a while and I'm beginning to think I should do it more often!  I can see (and taste) the merit of a good dressing and how adding other elements can really make a vegetable dish sing.  This tahini roasted cauliflower is a perfect example.  The cauliflower is tossed in a mixture of tahini, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and capers before roasting, then topped with lemon juice and a sprinkle of parsley once it's out of the oven.  It makes a divine result.

So I finally bought tahini - entered the world of homemade hummus - and started thinking about other ways to use this nutty sesame paste that's like a milder cousin to peanut butter.

Anticipating this foray into cooking with tahini, I ripped out a sheet of recipes from Cooking Light a few months back.  This cauliflower recipe was a "staff fave" and given I buy a head of cauliflower almost every week to steam or roast, it was one of the first things I tried.

Well...this is now one of my favorite ways to eat cauliflower!  My husband and I are totally smitten with it.  Because here's what happens...the cauliflower get coated with this tahini mixture and as it roasts, this dressing creates a kind of “crust” on the cauliflower.  It's almost like it’s been breaded and lightly fried.  As for flavor, the tahini adds a wonderful light richness and nuttiness.  The capers are one of the best parts of the dish, given the dish a little briny tartness.  

I might still be steaming my vegetables and eating on the plain side most days but this is definitely going into my vegetable rotation.  It's easy to make and delicious, dressed-up enough as a wonderful side-dish for a dinner party (I'm even thinking Thanksgiving).