Cauliflower Cheese Soup

One of Catherine's favorite meals seem to be soup.  She'll eat soup hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner.  She loves going to Panera Bread.  Earlier last week she said she wanted us to make a bunch of soups.  I happened to get an e-mail from Panera that had this recipe, and figured it would be worth a try.  I made it on Saturday, and everyone who has tried it has given it a big thumbs up.

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) reduced sodium fat free chicken broth
• 1 ½ cups half and half
• 1 ½ cups milk
  (I used Hood Smart Milk)
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  (Original recipe calls for reduced fat cheese, but I did not have it)
• ½ tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil.
2. Drop cauliflower in boiling water and blanch for 2-4 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
3. Heat oil in the drained pot over medium heat.
4. Add onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
5. Add cauliflower, broth, half and half and milk, thyme, pepper and nutmeg.
6. Cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender.
7. Puree the soup in a blender and return to the pot.
   (WARNING:  I did not have good luck with the blender method.  I don't know if it was too hot or if I put too much into the blender at one time, but the top of the blender tried to explode off, splashing hot soup around the kitchen and on me.  OUCH!  I would recommend using an immersion blender in the pot.)
8. Stir in the cheese and salt until the cheese melts and the soup is heated through.
   
   Serve with additional cauliflower florets for garnish, and hot pepper flakes for an added kick.

Serves 12-13 1-Cup Servings
Nutritional Data:
(click to enlarge image)