Cauliflower Soup

I can't help it: I love soup.  So much so, that even though it was only the 2nd day of 80+ degrees of the year and our air conditioning wasn't working yet and I should have been spending time outside enjoying the sun, I still wanted to eat a steaming, hot bowl of cauliflower soup and raid the soup pot over and over again until the last drop was gone.  It's just that good.

Cauliflower Soup
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
Printable Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 large head cauliflower, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 quart (4 cups) chicken or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 to 2 teaspoons salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
dash of crushed bay leaf
3/4 cup sour cream


Directions
1) In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to become translucent.
2) Add the carrots and celery and cook a few more minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine.
3) Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.
4) In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly, until it begins to thicken.
5) Add mixture to the simmering soup. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until cauliflower is soft and soup is incorporated.  Add salt, pepper, and bay leaf to taste.
6) Just before serving, place the sour cream into a bowl. Add two to three ladles of hot soup and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour back into the soup pot and stir.  Serve with additional dollop of sour cream if desired.  Enjoy!