Smokey Cauliflower & Bacon Soup

It's winter (78F outside today) and I'm in soup mode. We're trying to eat lighter and we love soup & salad combos, or today, soup and sandwich. I like to make my own soups, normally vegetable based, and always looking to tweek my existing recipes. Here I've edited my normal cauliflower recipe to give it a bit of a kick..Hubbie loved it....Enjoy!

Enough for 4 large bowls


Ingredients

• 1 large cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 1 large potato peeled and chopped into 2" pieces
• 6 rashers of smokey bacon
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 green (spring) onions finely chopped
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup (4oz) shredded Italian mixed cheese
• 2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablspoons butter
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Saute the onions and garlic over a medium heat in a large saucepan in the butter.
2. When translucent push the onions and garlic to one side of the pan and add 2 rashers of the bacon that have been diced.
3. Once the bacon has cooked add the cauliflower, potato, cumin and paprika.
4. Saute for 2 mins.
5. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and then reduce to a low-medium heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes
6. Remove from heat and hand blend or liquidize until required smoothness
7. Add the milk and cheese, heat through to melt the cheese, then taste and season with salt and pepper. I used about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper ( I didn't have any white pepper here, but it would probably work better).
8. Fry off the rest of the bacon, drain and serve on top of the soup