Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Chicken, Kale, Onions, & Carrots

It is only my third week to join in with the fun at the Fiesta Friday party over at Angie’s blog, The Novice Gardener, and I already look forward to it every week! I love getting to see what everyone else is making…you all are SO creative and inspiring!

So what did I cook this week? Well, let me start by asking…

Have you ever come up with an idea, thinking it was going to be easy, soon finding out just how wrong you were? 🙂 That is what happened to me with this yummy soup I created. I knew I was cooking for a decent sized group of people and I thought to myself, “Soup! Easy!” Yep, not so much! 🙂 Okay, if I am honest with myself, it might have been easier if I wasn’t determined to create the recipe myself. Well, “might have” probably isn’t quite accurate enough. 🙂

Here was my task, taking into consideration the people I was cooking for and their dietary needs: create a soup recipe that was low-glycemic, paleo-friendly, gluten free, dairy-free, and nut free. (Okay, just a few restrictions. 🙂 )

3 1/2 hours later, 2 extra trips to the store that my hubby so graciously took for me, and much experimenting (adding more of this and that) and the soup was finally ready! As I taste tested it every step of the way, I honestly didn’t think it was going to turn out well and felt discouraged at times, but I am super relieved to say I was wrong! I really liked it!

I would have preferred to cook it with cheese, but since I couldn’t do that, I set some aside for anyone who wanted to put some in their own bowl. To my hubby and I, this was the perfect finishing touch! Yum!

• Servings: About 10 People
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*Created by Lori at Creating Beauty in the Kitchen

• 3 heads of cauliflower (cooked, mashed, and blended)
• 4-5 fresh cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 cans of coconut milk
• 2 1/2 cups water
• Black pepper (I used quite a bit)
• 4 carrots
• 3-4 cups Kale
• 2 large chicken breasts, cut up into small pieces
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Chives
• Grated Parmesan Cheese

• Wash the cauliflower and break off the pieces in small chunks. Put in a stock pot with enough water to cover it all and boil for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cut up the garlic, onion, rosemary, and kale. For the carrots, I used a peeler to get short, thin peels. I thought it would be fun to do it this way, instead of just cutting up chunks of carrots.
• Wash and cut the chicken into small pieces.
• When the cauliflower is done boiling, drain it and place it back in the pot. Use a masher to get it softened up even more. Add in the coconut milk, half the onions, and water. I then used an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
• Now, put the rest of the onions, the garlic, rosemary, kale, black pepper, and carrot peels into the soup. Mix well and cook on medium heat.
• While the soup is beginning to cook, pour the olive oil into a large skillet and add the chicken. Cook on medium heat.
• When the chicken is finished cooking, add it into the soup.
• When soup is ready, garnish each bowl with chives and (if you can eat dairy) Parmesan cheese.