Smoky cauliflower soup with turmeric sweet potatoes and red peppers

This cauliflower soup is the warming equivalent of a great big exotic hug.

Roasting cauliflower until it’s a smoky, caramelised hot mess really makes my day. It’s a simple enough process. You throw some plain old cauliflower in a roasting pan with oil and spices, not really expecting much, but what pops back out of the oven after 30 minutes is a wondrous thing.

Apart from the roasted cauliflower, the cinnamon, cumin, and turmeric work together to bring out the savoury goodness in the vegetables and the sweet potato and red pepper power up the skin-friendly nutrient profile of this lunch or dinner soup.

Turmeric is great at boosting your antioxidant protection against free radicals which is one of the key foundations for heart health, as well as helping with radiant skin, joint, liver and eye health. There are many turmeric supplements available that contain solely the isolate curcumin, but I’m a fan of getting the benefits of a substance in the whole food form whenever possible, so I add turmeric liberally to my cooking.

This soup tastes great on day 1, but it’s even better on day 2, so it makes a perfect packed lunch. I often will double up on this recipe to help prep my lunches for the week.

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Smoky cauliflower soup with turmeric sweet potatoes and red peppers

This cauliflower soup is the warming equivalent of a great big exotic hug. Apart from the roasted cauliflower, the cinnamon, cumin, and turmeric work together to bring out the savoury goodness in the vegetables and the sweet potato and red pepper power up the skin-friendly nutrient profile of this lunch or dinner soup.

Course Soup

Cuisine Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nutrient Rich, Refined Sugar Free

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

Author Laura Livesey

Ingredients

• Coconut oil
• 1 cauliflower
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 large red onion chopped
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 sweet potatoes chopped
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 2 Tbsp ground turmeric
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock – just to cover the ingredients
• 1 tsp garam masala

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (180 C)
2. Place chopped cauliflower florets into a foil lined roasting pan, drizzle with melted coconut oil, then sprinkle with cinnamon and cumin along with some salt and pepper – mix everything together well
3. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes or until browned
4. Meanwhile in a large soup pot heat 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil on a medium high heat. Saute onions and garlic for a few minutes until soft
5. Add the red pepper, sweet potatoes, turmeric and tomato paste to the pot. Cook for 1 minute and then immediately pour the stock into the pot
6. Simmer for about 10 mins until veggies are soft, then grab your baked cauliflower and add that to the pot
7. Add soup to a blender along with garam masala, and pepper and blend until smooth. You’re ready to serve it!

Recipe Notes

Optional: I also like to add an additional small clove of raw garlic to the blender at the last minute. With things like herbs or garlic – their amazing nutritional value degrades with heat so it’s nice to throw some in at the very last minute to capture more of their goodness.

Cilantro and hemp seeds (or pine nuts) also make a nice topping for this and add a bit of protein as well as texture and crunch.