Recipes: Cauliflower, Coconut & Peanut Soup

I can't really take the credit for putting cauliflower with coconut and peanut and coming up with this most delicious soup. Although this recipe is certainly refined to my own taste and with my own touch, the original idea came from a friend which came from an old cafe that used to exist many years ago in Manchester. But since the cafe is no longer, I don't suppose me plagurising their recipe matters that much!

Rest assured though, this is a most scrumptious combination, and a very inexpensive way to impress dinner guests, as well as a more unique way to use up seasonal cauliflowers.

Basically, this is really easy to make, has a nice amount of spice, and is unusual enough to serve up at dinner parties as well as just have for an everyday lunch or supper.

This is a gluten free option too, as long as you use gluten free soy suace, or leave it out altogether.

Cauliflower is a great source of vitamin C and other important phytochemicals that are beneficial to humans. Peanuts are a good source of protein and zinc. Anyhow,  let's get right down to business with today's recipe without too much babbling on from myself.

Cauliflower, Coconut & Peanut Soup
Serves 6-8

1 large head of cauliflower, roughly chopped including the leaves

1 onion, chopped

3 sticks celery, chopped

1 x 400ml can coconut milk

⅓ cup / 80ml peanut butter

½ cup / 50g salted peanuts

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ green chilli, chopped

½ red chilli, chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce (check for gluten-free version if gluten-free recipe is needed)

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1½ teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon ginger powder

¼ teaspoon white pepper

1 tablespoon coconut oil, for frying

1½ litres of water

Paprika to garnish (optional)

1. In a large stock pan, heat the coconut oil on a low-medium heat and sauté the onion and celery for a few minutes until softened but not browned. Add the garlic, chilli, and cumin seeds and continue frying for another minute or so to release the flavours.

2. Add the cauliflower, ginger, salt, pepper and stir well. Then pour over the water, and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to a medium simmer/low boil. Add the coconut milk and dissolve the peanut butter into the pan, stirring well. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until the cauliflower has softened.

3. Once the cauliflower is cooked, turn the heat off and allow to cool for a short while, then blend everything. You may need to do in several batches unless you have a super huge blender (or an immersion blender, of course)!

4. Finally, stir in the peanuts and ladle into bowls. Serve with a paprika garnish if you like.

Comments

[Maija Haavisto]

Sounds like something I have to try! I'm not a big fan of peanut butter at all, but I like it in many savoury dishes. And this would be very fitting for my current diet, which unfortunately has to be fairly low carb and high fat.

You don't have an immersion blender? I can't even imagine pureeing soups with a normal blender.

Finnish celiac society considers soy sauce to be gluten-free, by the way. The wheat protein is destroyed in the fermentation process and several studies have found all analyzed soy sauces to contain far lower amounts of gluten traces than are allowed in products labeled gluten-free.

[Andrea - Chocolate and Beyond]

Hi Maija - thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Interesting to hear that Finnish CS consider soy sauces to be gluten-free, it would be helpful if that was the case in the UK too.

I don't have an immersion blender yet, can you believe? My sister is buying me one for Christmas though :) I wanted my next self-bought gadget to be an ice-cream maker!

I LOVE peanut butter, probably too much. I use it so often in so many dishes, sweet and savoury.

Thanks again for stopping by :)

[Charlotte]

Cauliflower, coconut and peanuts great combination! I'll have to make a batch of that next week for my lunches.

Thank you for sharing the recipe.

[Andrea - Chocolate and Beyond]

Charlotte thanks for your comment! PLEASE do let me know what you think after you've made this :)

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Pretty much anything with coconut and peanut butter is going to be good, but I'd not have thought of using cauliflower with them. I'm a fan though and have bookmarked this recipe to try.

[Charlotte]

Hi Andrea,
Sorry for the delay in replying to you.
I made this soup and it was very tasty. I should have halved the recipe though as it really makes 8 good servings - I started to run out of containers to put it in!
Next time I'll halve the recipe :) and I might try using coconut cream too.
Thank you for the recipe.

[Andrea - Chocolate and Beyond]

Yes there is a lot here Charlotte! Did you freeze some of it? I'm glad you found it tasty though - thank you so much for coming to let me know!