Cauliflower Leek Soup

If you like cauliflower as much as I do, and you only have about 15 minutes to make something super yummy, then you will Love this soup!
And, if you don't like cauliflower, feel free to replace it with broccoli.
And if you don't like leeks (which are basically just giant scallions/green onions) feel free to leave them out.

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, 1 leek, 1/2 a small shallot, 1 tbsp. vegetable oil, chicken broth and milk (not pictured)

First, sautee the leeks and shallots in a pot with the oil. These add a little something extra to the cauliflower flavor. But again, if you don't like the flavor of onions, just omit this step.

Once those are happy and warm, add the cauliflower.

 Then add just enough broth to cover everything.

Cover and cook on high for about 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft.

Once the cauliflower is fully cooked, it's time to get out the immersion blender. One of my favorite tools.
If you don't have one of these, you can pour everything into a regular blender, then pour it back into the pan. Or you can just go get one of these. Trust me, you will be glad you did.

Once the cauliflower is mashed, add a little milk, then finish blending until its smooth. Feel free to use cream if you want this to be a little richer. And, if you want it to be real rich, you can add some butter too.
(And please pay no attention to my chipped nail polish. Eew!)

At this point, feel free to add a little salt, pepper, butter, garlic, cheese- whatever you want to make it the flavor you love.
And, at this point you can either eat this like soup (which I did), or use it as an additive.
For example, you could add it to risotto. Or add more veggies to it to make a little stew. Or mix in some shellfish. Or put a nice piece of salmon on top.
Basically, depending on how thick or thin you make it, you could really use it in a lot of different ways.
But me, I like it as soup.

Oh, and when garnishing, always be sure to use one of the ingredients in the dish so that people know it's in there.

Enjoy! :)