Garden Vegetable Cheese Soup

I love vegetable gardening in south Louisiana! Here it is, the end of January, and while the rest of the country is snowed inside, I am harvesting the last of my cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. (Sorry, I don't mean to brag...) And since the temperatures are beginning to drop, it is a great time for a warm, hearty garden vegetable cheese soup! So if you aren't sure what to do with the last little broccoli side shoots, those stubby end of the season carrots, or that tiny cauliflower head that you thought would eventually get bigger (but didn't), then this is a great recipe to use up the last of your cool season crops!

What you need:
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 medium onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 4 cups chopped carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli (the proportions of each are up to you or depend on what is left in the garden, and sometimes I add more than 4 cups- you can't have too many veggies!)
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 tbsp. worcheshire sauce
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Put all of the veggies through the food processor to the size that you want. 

Saute the first 4 ingredients in the butter in a 3 qt. pot. 

Add the flour, stir for 1 minute until smooth. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring as you go. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. 

Add the worcheshire sauce, milk, cheese, and pepper and cook on low for 10 more minutes. 

 All done! Serve with a fresh green garden salad :) Enjoy!

Garden Vegetable Cheese Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 medium onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 4 cups chopped carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli (the proportions of each are up to you or depend on what is left in the garden, and sometimes I add more than 4 cups- you can't have too many veggies!)
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 tbsp. worcheshire sauce
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Put all of the veggies through the food processor to the size that you want. Saute the first 4 ingredients in the butter in a 3 qt. pot. Add the flour, stir for 1 minute until smooth. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring as you go. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the worcheshire sauce, milk, cheese, and pepper and cook on low for 10 more minutes.

Cauliflower Mozzarella Sticks

I saw something that caught my eye on pinterest by The Iron You this morning- cauliflower breadsticks! I am a true skeptic when it comes to all of these recipes that sound so healthy that you just know they taste weird at best. This sounded like one of those. But I had been proven wrong with my recent experimenting with cauliflower alfredo sauce, so I thought I would give it a shot. Besides, I just harvested LOTS of cauliflower from the garden, and I had to make something for family night that my mom, who recently went gluten free, could enjoy with us. Solving two problems at once? Let's do this!

Cauliflower Mozzarella Sticks:
- 1 head cauliflower (about 3 cups of flowerettes)
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. garlic cloves
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. dried basil
- 1/4 tsp. dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp. dried oregano

Cut the cauliflower into pieces and chop up into fine pieces in the food processor.

Microwave the cauliflower "rice" for 8 minutes until fully cooked. 

Put the cooked cauliflower in a tea towel and strain out all of the water (this step is important to get the right consistency later). You will really have to twist the towel to squeeze out all of the liquid. 

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl together.

Spray the loaf pan with Pam and put the mixture into a loaf pan, pressing down until it is packed into the bottom of the dish.

Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle a little bit more mozzarella on top and let it melt as the sticks cool. 

Once the sticks are completely cool, it will be easy to remove them from the loaf pan and use a pizza cutter to make slices. Enjoy with some marinara sauce!

So, how were they? O...M...G....delicious! I will have a really hard time eating steamed cauliflower ever again now that I know it can taste like this! While it doesn't have the consistency of a breadstick (fluffy and bready) it tastes awesome! The consistency is more like a hash brown, but full of herbs, garlic, and cheese! LOVE IT! Let's just say, DH will be lucky if there are any left for him to try when he gets home :)

Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce

We just harvested a bunch of cauliflower and had to think of some creative ways to use it all. I saw a recipe on myfridgefood.com for a cauliflower alfredo sauce, so I decided to give it a try!

What you need:

- 6-7 cups of water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth

- 3 tablespoons butter

- 3 tablespoons minced garlic

- 5-6 cups cauliflower flowerettes

- 1/2 cup milk (optional)

Bring the water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth to a boil. Add the cauliflower, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes until flowerettes are tender. 

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cauliflower along with one cup of the broth into a blender. Blend the cauliflower and liquid until smooth.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and simmer the garlic in it for a minute or two. Add the cauliflower from the blender stir until smooth. If desired, add milk and stir until smooth once again. 

Simmer for a few minutes and then serve over noodles! You will notice that my sauce turned out more yellow than white, but that is because I used a mix of white and yellow cauliflower. (Imagine if I had used some of the purple cauliflower!) The color will look more like regular alfredo if you use a more traditional color of cauliflower.

I know what you're thinking, because I was thinking the same thing- this sauce is made of cauliflower...there is no way it can taste good. I was wrong. It was delicious! Even my husband, who describes himself as a "meatasaurus" said that is was, and I quote, "very good"! Now THAT is saying something :)

If I could change anything for next time, I would add a few sun dried tomatoes and a little parsley on top of each serving and possibly add some grilled chicken or shrimp to get some protein in there. However, even by itself, the flavor of the sauce was surprisingly amazing, especially when you consider that it is 1/10 of the calories of regular alfredo sauce! If you are feeling daring, give it a try :)