INGREDIENTS
¼ Cup O’Live A Little’s Black Pepper Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus for drizzle
2 Cups chopped celery, diced into ½” – ¼” pcs.
2 Cups chopped carrot, diced into ½” – ¼” pcs.
1 Large sweet onion, diced into ½” – ¼” pcs.
4 Large cloves garlic, minced
2 Teaspoons Ground Allspice
1 ½ Teaspoons Ground Cumin
½ Teaspoon Harissa – or more to taste depending on your heat tolerance
2 Medium heads of cauliflower, chopped into small florets
12 +/- Cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 Cup Heavy cream – Omit if Vegan
1 Cup nutritional yeast
3 Cooked wild rice (250 g) – Omit if Keto
2 Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt, or more to taste
1 Teaspoon black pepper
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
Bacon (if desired) – Used as garnish on top of soup once ladled into bowls. Quantity of bacon to use is personal preference
Parsley – Chopped for garnish
Method of Prep
Cook the wild rice according to package instructions and set aside.
Over medium heat add the black pepper extra Virgin Olive oil and once heated, dd the onion, celery and carrots. Sauté, stirring often , till vegetables just begin to soften.
Add the garlic, allspice, cumin and harissa and sauté for a few minutes till fragrant.
Add the cauliflower and continue to simmer medium heat until cauliflower are tender
Add the 8 cups stock ( Veggie or Chicken). Depending on desired thickness, add more stock if needed. And can also add more stock after soup is pureed.
Stir in the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.
Add the lemon juice and zest.
Add the cream ( if using).
Scoop half of the soup into a blender or use an immersion blender to puree ½ the soup. Add back the pureed soup with the soup that is not pureed. If to thick, adjust by adding more stock.
Stir in the cooked wild rice (if using).
Adjust seasoning as desired.
Ladle into soup bowls, drizzle with black pepper extra virgin olive oil, a bit of chopped fresh parsley and crumbled bacon (if using).
Keto Friendly Soup
Make this soup as is or it can be easily adapted for those following a keto diet or those who have Vegan preferences. It is truly delish regardless of how you make it. My husband and I are mostly staying away from heavy carbs, but in the case of this soup, I did eat it with the wild rice added. The rice is not overwhelming in the completed soup, it adds a bit of nuttiness and texture and I like the look of the dark rice in the soup against the white from the cauliflower and the bits of orange from the carrots.
Protein Rich Soup
I read there are 35 grams of carbs in 1 cup of wild rice and 45 grams of carbs in white rice. But the big news to me was wild rice is much higher in protein – 24 grams for 1 cup compared to 4.5 grams for white rice. So, this fact justified for me the “rice splurge”! Nutritional yeast adds a unique savory cheese like flavor that works well as there is no added meat in this soup to increase its flavor profile. Nutritional yeast also adds additional protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to food so it’s good for you too!
