GAPS soup for winter days

As I look at my mom’s facebook post from home,

-17F is about -27C. Brr.

while I'm enjoying this weather,

(11C is about 51F, and 22C is roughly 71F.)

I feel almost guilty for being wrapped up under a blanket with my trusty space heater at full blast, and for wearing my winter coat bought in France a few years ago with Ugg-like winter boots to work. But only almost. Because then I remember that Moroccan buildings are made for hot weather, and have cold tile floors and drafty windows. I remember that our dehumidifier draws a good 2-3 liters of water out of the air in our small apartment each day. I remember that in the US centralized heat never turns off, cars are heated before you get in them and people just hop from heated structure to heated structure, while I'm stuck teaching in drafty classrooms. And I remember that while the sunshine might be warm here, the shade and wind cut through everyone-- not just me.

With all this cold, obviously it’s time to make soup!

A work friend was sick yesterday and mentioned how she was going to turn the cauliflower sitting in her fridge into a soup, and she inspired me to do the same with the cauliflower in my fridge. I’ve made a GAPS creamy cauliflower-broccoli soup before, but broccoli is hard to come by in Morocco and expensive too. Incidentally, I had just a bit leftover of a head Othman got me last week. It was by far the most beautiful one I’ve come across here, and I was determined to eat it raw (my family can attest to my life-long love of raw broccoli). After appearances in chicken salad (well… turkey salad really… guess where the turkey came from!) and all by its lonesome in my lunch tupperwares, it was time to use up the bit that was left, so into the soup it went.

I looked up a few difference recipes online for inspiration, and here’s the absolutely delicious soup I came up with:

Creamy Cauliflower soup, GAPS legal

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 head cauliflower roughly chopped (plus 1 head broccoli if you have it— why not?)
• 2 zucchinis roughly copped
• 1 inch of fresh or frozen ginger
• chicken broth (I used 1 cup super-concentrated homemade turkey broth from our Thanksgiving friend)
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh chopped herbs (I used parsley and cilantro)



while simmering 

• 1 can coconut milk

Sautee the onion in a mixture of butter and olive oil (2:1 ratio. I’ve been doing that a lot lately and love the result) for about 5 minutes, add garlic, crushed. Add veggies and let sautee a few minutes. Add broth and enough water to cover veggies. Bring to boil and let simmer until cauliflower is easily pierced with a fork. (Avoid overcooking until it’s all mush. Mine took a good 15-20 minutes.)

Remove from heat, add salt and pepper and chopped herbs, then blend using an immersion blender. Remove some of the liquid first if you like it thicker. Dump in the can of coconut milk and pulse a few more times to make sure it’s well mixed.

Serve with shredded cheese and more herbs as a garnish, then enjoy! Perfect for cold days when you need a fast dinner that's hearty and homey but with a hint of the exotic.