Curried Cauliflower Soup

My mother-in-law makes a delicious cauliflower soup every year at Christmastime. The problem is that she will only make it once a year. She always makes me my own special batch with vegetable stock rather than the chicken stock the recipe demands. I have tried to convince her that she could just make the whole batch with vegetable stock since there is no other meat in the soup, but she is a stick-to-the-recipe kind of gal, so I get a pot all to myself. I never understood how curried cauliflower soup became a part of the family tradition, but somehow it did. Here is my version with red curry paste and basil oil that is sure to make an appearance on your table this holiday season.

Curried Cauliflower Soup:

1 head cauliflower (broken into florets, stems chopped)

1/2 white onion (diced)

1 shallot (minced)

1 tablespoon red curry paste

pinch of lemon zest

1 Not Chick'n cube

3/4 cup white wine

1 can light coconut milk

splash of rice wine vinegar

pinch of sugar

olive oil

Garnish:

basil oil

garlic chives

jasmine rice

thinly sliced hot peppers

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss cauliflower in a few tablespoons of olive oil and spread onto a baking sheet; roast until the tips of the cauliflower are golden brown (10-15 minutes). In a soup pot over medium heat, sweat onion, shallot, curry paste, lemon zest, and bouillon in a few tablespoons of olive oil until onion is soft. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the wine. Cook until the wine is reduced by half.

Add all of the stems and half of the florets of the cauliflower to the pot along with the coconut milk and sugar. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth. Ladle soup into a bowl, top with a scoop of jasmine rice, a few of the roasted cauliflower florets, a drizzle of basil oil, and garlic chives.