A smooth, warming, lightly spicy soup, this is a great way to make use of the cauliflower stalk that so often gets thrown away. Note that this started off life as a way to use up the last bit of ranchero sauce that I had in the fridge one day when I was thinking fondly of a cream of tomato soup that I used to have as a child. If you find yourself in that situation, 8 floz / 1 cup / 1/4 litre ranchero sauce, 8 oz / 250g cauliflower cooked in 24 floz / 3 cups / 700ml of water with 1/2 tsp salt will get you a small amount of this soup in a jiffy.
Makes ~13 cups / 3 liters of soup @ ~36kcals per cup
1 tsp margarine (I use Earth Balance) or cooking oil/spray
6 oz (1/2 of a large) onion, diced
1 lb / 454g red/yellow/orange sliced peppers (frozen is O.K.)
1 jalapeño chili, seeds removed and flesh roughly diced
1 lb / 450g cauliflower
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
14 oz / 400g chopped tinned tomatoes, with juices
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp of sugar if necessary to counteract acidic tomatoes
Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium high heat, then cook the onion, peppers/chili, and cauliflower until the onion is translucent (~10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
Add the garlic and allow it to warm through for a minute.
Add the remaining ingredients along with 32 fl oz / 4 cups/ 950 ml of water, and simmer until the cauliflower is soft (~10 minutes).
Blend until smooth; pour back into the saucepan and use another 16 fl oz / 2 cups / 475 ml of water to rinse the blender out into the saucepan.
Reheat, check seasoning, and serve hot.
No Meat, No Wheat, No Dairy 