This recipe is one that I made up on the fly while looking at the available ingredients in my fridge. I had a bunch of vegetables just sitting there and I could not figure out what to make with them. I’ve had so many salads this week and I was getting bored with them, so finally it hit me. I could roast all these delicious vegetables and then blend them into a creamy soup. But, since I like to complicate things, I also wanted to add a little something special to take the soup over the top. That’s when I decided to fry some crispy onions and serve them over the soup.
Now that I know how easy it is to make this soup, I will definitely be doing it again with any leftover veggies I have. It had such an interesting flavor that kept getting better the more I ate it. And to my surprise, my meat loving dad loved it too. He is not a huge vegetable lover, but since I’ve been living with him, I’ve been cooking for him and my family, and they all agree that this veggie packed soup is a winner.
Creamy oven roasted cauliflower, carrot, red bell pepper and garlic soup with fresh basil and crispy fried onions on top.
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 large carrots, thickly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thickly sliced
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup cashew cream
- 6 basil leaves
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup vegan buttermilk (1 cup unsweetened soy milk + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°. Toss the cauliflower, carrots and red pepper in half of the olive oil and roast on a baking sheet for 45-50 minutes until tender.
- Cut the top off the garlic bulb. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and wrap with aluminum foil and roast with the vegetables for 45 minutes.
- In a large bowl, pour the "buttermilk" over the onions and let them marinate while the vegetables are roasting.
- Once the vegetables and garlic are done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the counter.
- Add the vegetables and garlic to a food processor along with olive oil, lemon juice, spices and basil and blend until smooth.
- Transfer to a saucepan and turn on the heat to medium-low.
- Add the vegetable broth and cashew cream and stir.
- Cover and cook the soup, stirring occasionally, while preparing the onion rings.
- In a shallow dish, combine the cornstarch, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika and parsley.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. To tell if it's hot enough, drop a small amount of flour into the oil. If it sizzles, then it is hot enough.
- Dredge the onion slices, a little at a time through the breading mixture.
- Carefully drop them into the hot oil and cook for just a minute or two until golden brown.
- Drain onions on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Once the onions are done, spoon some soup into a soup bowl and top with the crispy onions.
- Serve immediately.