Mexican Cauliflower Soup

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that this is the first time I have ever used cauliflower in soup.  Besides roasting it, cauliflower has never been something I used really often in cooking.  Last week, though, I was eating leftover chicken tortilla soup and came to the illuminating conclusion that I don’t really like chicken.

I know, you’re thinking of all those chicken chili recipes that I posted this winter.  I didn’t hate it in all those, but I was actively picking around the chicken in the chicken tortilla soup to get to the all the vegetables.  Naturally, I thought to myself: why don’t you make chicken tortilla soup without the chicken?  For some reason, the first vegetable I thought to add was cauliflower!  I love the texture cauliflower adds to the soup.  The smaller pieces are almost like rice.  It also adds body to what could be an otherwise light vegetable soup.

I liked to serve this alongside a quick quesadilla, or just a flour tortilla.  You could do a salad, but I personally think the soup is filled with enough veggies, so you can splurge a bit on the side!  Like most soups, it gets better while it sits.  One thing to note is that the vegetables absorb a lot of the broth when it’s in the refrigerator.  If you like a really soup-y soup, I would add a bit more broth.

Mexican Cauliflower Soup

1 tbsp olive oil

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery ribs, diced

1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

pinch red pepper flakes

4 cups broth

14 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles

4 oz can green chiles

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Directions

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add all of the vegetables and cook until tender, 8-10 minutes.  Add the spices and mix to combine.  Pour in the broth, diced tomatoes, green chiles, and black beans.  Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 15-20 minutes.