Today is the last day of my 5-part meal plan and it’s a good one! I love this soup! It’s so darn simple to make and it’s so delicious with the curry spices. There’s a little kick from the cayenne and some brightness from the lemon. The ingredient list is short so this is definitely a recipe that’s bound for the regular meal rotation… and it came about so unexpectedly.
See, I started the this meal plan series last week with a set amount of groceries and ideas for 5 meals, each meal using the ingredients from the day before. For this fifth meal, I was going to make a big frittata that would use up any bits of random veggies I had left. A frittata is a great use-it-all-up kitchen sink sort of meal… and a natural last-day recipe strategy.
That was a nice concept in theory, until I looked in the fridge and saw… not much. I used pretty much all of my remaining green veggies for Day 4’s pasta, but there in the back of the fridge was a big hunk of forgotten cauliflower… and the last bit of that yummy kale pepita pesto sauce. At first, I thought of making my go-to roasted cauliflower soup, but then I got really excited to change things up and make this creamy curried soup instead.
Not only is this soup a new favorite, but I get no greater joy than when a meal idea comes up, seemingly out of the blue, which uses the “nothing” in my fridge and STILL doesn’t require another trip to the store (bonus: the naan was in my freezer!). It’s recipes like this that make me excited to cook with less more often ?
I just love the golden color of the soup – it’s so light and yet so flavorful!
I hope you enjoyed these 5 recipes! Next time, I”ll post a complete plan with a grocery list so that you can easily cook from one meal to the next. Until then – another shameless plug for our new meal journal that just came out last week!: The Love & Lemons Meal Record & Market List:
Meal Plan Day 5: Curried Cauliflower Soup
- ½ yellow onion, sliced in half
- 1 large garlic clove, unpeeled
- 1 small or ½ large cauliflower, florets and core, roughly chopped (1 pound)
- 1½ cups vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
- ½ to 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder, more if desired
- pinch of cayenne pepper, more if desired
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Wrap the two onion wedges and the garlic clove in foil with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast until soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Meanwhile, In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the cauliflower florets and core pieces for 8 to 10 minutes, or until fork-tender. Scoop the cauliflower out of the water and into a blender. Let cool slightly, then add the roasted onion and (peeled) garlic, the vegetable broth, olive oil, ½ tablespoon lemon juice, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more lemon if you want the flavors to be brighter, more curry powder if you want a stronger curry flavor, and more cayenne if you want more of a kick!
- Scoop into bowls and serve with swirls of the Creamy Kale Pepita Pesto.* Top with the microgreens and red pepper flakes, if desired. Serve with naan bread.
*Note: If your leftover pesto has thickened in the fridge, stir in a little olive oil to loosen it up.
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