Supercharged Mutant

This weekend, I was in H Mart, a supersized Korean supermarket in Niles, IL, when I spotted orange cauliflowers and decided to bring one home. Orange cauliflowers are the tastier offspring of a mutant orange cauliflower found in a Canadian field 30 years ago. The mutant was smaller and less flavorful than regular cauliflower so food scientists labored to improve upon the mutation, a gene that causes the cauliflower to store more beta-carotene, to come up with an orange cauliflower as tasty as the white stuff. Because of the extra beta-carotene, orange cauliflower is much higher in provitamin A than white cauliflower.

Since the weather turned chilly yet again today, I was in the mood for soup. I started with a spicy cauliflower soup recipe in Alice Water’s The Art of Simple Cooking. The resulting soup lacked body so taking Julie’s Spinach Chickpea soup as my inspiration, I added a can of rinsed and drained chickpeas. Just what it needed. Now the soup is tastier and has more protein and fiber.

As you can see, the soup is a vibrant orange. Feel free to make it with white cauliflower. The soup will still be a light yellow from the added turmeric and carrot.

Spicy Cauliflower Chickpea Soup
Serves 4

Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp turmeric
1 large head of cauliflower, color of your choice, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cups cooked or 1 15 ox can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups water

Optional garnishes: plain yogurt or low-fat sour cream, cilantro

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and spices and sauté until onion is soft, about five minutes. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. With immersion blender, puree until coarsely smooth. Top with optional garnish. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 182 calories, 30g carbohydrates, 11g fiber, 10g protein, 5g fat, 1g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 422mg sodium