Cauliflower & Almond Soup

This is a lovely, creamy soup that uses almond meal as a thickener but also to add valuable protein and additional nutrients. Some mild spicing adds flavour and depth, and you can add some nutritional yeast at the end for a little vegan cheesy umami, as well as a dose of B12. This is a good one if you have half a cauliflower you don't know what to do with - it's a simple and delicious recipe I adore.

Serves 2:

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/2 a medium cauliflower, divided into small florets

2 heaped tsps of ground almonds

1 pinch each of black pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, coriander and ground cumin

600ml hot vegetable stock

2 tbsps fresh coriander, chopped (optional)

1 tsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

1 tsp flaked almonds (optional)

Method

1. Gently sweat the onion and garlic in a little olive oil over a medium heat

2. Add the cauliflower florets and then all of the spices

3. Turn the vegetables so that they are covered in the spices and cook for a few minutes, until they start to caramelise

4. Add the stock to the pan, bring it all to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Check the seasoning.

5. Add the ground almonds and stir

6. Remove from the heat and let the soup sit for a minute to cool slightly

7. Blend with a stick blender or in a jug. You can leave the soup a but chunky if you prefer the texture.

8. When you're ready to serve, fold the coriander through soup and sprinkle on the nutritional yeast and flaked almonds. Add a little more black pepper and serve.