Creamy Garlic Cauliflower Soup

                             Before....                                                              After! :)

Ok, wisdom teeth out = a little brutal.  The teeth themselves were fine (black as they were).  I virtually had no pain during or after, just the intense discomfort of knowing that there were sizable bloody holes in my mouth, but I was so paranoid about keeping them clean and free of food that I wouldn’t chew anything for over a week.  Even with yogurt and ice cream I kept it contained inside my teeth for fear the it would do damage to the tender areas.

My sweetie’s mom saved my butt more than once (and my stomach) by sending me home with potato soup, and fixing super soft meals that I could eat in less than graceful smooshing fashion.  Left on my own though I was pretty much eating yogurt with maple syrup, and miso soup, and going seriously hungry.

I was reading an article about how the recommended daily amount of sugar is not to exceed 20 grams, and realizing three things: 1) that’s impossibly low, 2) the actual average stated (100-something) was also impossibly low (2 cans of soda--or anything else and you’re there) and 3) I had blown that number out of the sugar soaked water that day (maple syrup has 53 grams per 3 tablespoons or something insane like that).

Short story: I was craving vegetables, for God’s sake something healthy.  I figured the blender was a good place to start.

I steamed some cauliflower (cut into bite sized florets) for a bit longer than I normally would until they were soft under a fork and put them into the blender along with an avocado, a few spoonfuls of plain yogurt, apparently enough garlic to kill a horse (I did not realize this at the time), a few spoonfuls of Mama’s Miracle Dressing, some fresh basil and a small amount of water (just enough to make it blend).

This turned out so absolutely, splendidly delicious.  I mean, we’re talking fancy restaurant soup that you pay $8 a bowl for (ok, so those are the fancy restaurants I go to....$10 a bowl?...twelve??....)  I ate it both warm and cold and both were wonderful.  I bet a garnish would be nice too, which I can eat next time I make it :)

Creamy Garlic Cauliflower Soup

Approximate price: $5

Sauteed Coconut Cauliflower with Black Bean Salad

I’ve been absolutely submerged in a stack of Country Living magazines that my sweetie’s mum and gram have passed on to me.  Ok, it’s not JUST Country Living.....there’s also some Martha Stewart and Good Housekeeping, but I love them.  I have about 100 pages dog eared of crafty endeavors I’d like to implement while my honey is away.....let me tell you, this do-it-yourselfer can do a lot of damage in seven weeks! ;)

Anyway, one of the things I read was something on a group of super veggies that are supposed to be totally amazing and healthy for you (which is my other favorite thing to read about) and cauliflower was among them, so the next time I was at the store I picked some up.  I’ve been allowing my meals to be tremendously simple, just cooking for myself, but they’ve still managed to be tasty and nourishing so far!

I made the cauliflower my main dish, really just wanting to enjoy the unique flavor that I don’t get to taste very often (and when one usually eats cauliflower it’s raw on a plastic tray with some sort of uber creamy dip).  My big splurge for the day was organic unrefined coconut oil ($11 for a 16 oz jar) and cooking the cauliflower in it seemed like the best idea ever, so I did.  First things first though, I steamed the bite sized florets in a colander over boiling water for about 5 minutes before putting them in a pan with a few spoonfuls of oil.

Then I went outside to continue waging war on fire ant hills (in bare feet because this week’s swarm attack rendered me unable to wear shoes for a few days), and ended up leaving the pan unattended for longer than I meant to.  I swear I’m not irresponsible.....it was on low.....I mean, the worst thing that could happen was burning my dinner.  And it turns out that a little burning was exactly what my dinner needed.  Lightly blackened, if you will (and only on one side of course :)

I added a splash of Bragg’s (which I’ve gone back to--just for cooking--after realizing that we go through a bottle of soy sauce in, um, NO time at all), and a spoonful of nutritional yeast once the pan was turned off.  It got topped off with fresh green onions from the porch and served with a black bean salad (which is my fancy way of saying salad with black beans on it).

Aaaaaaaaand this is probably what I will make every night until the rations are gone.  

Sauteed Coconut Cauliflower with Black Bean Salad

Approximate Price: $5