Sauté the onions and salt with oil or broth until soft. Abut 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
Add the cauliflower, saute for about 6-8 minutes until browning. You can also roast the cauliflower if you prefer but the soup has more flavor if you brown the onions for the caramelized taste, so it takes more pans to cook the cauliflower in the oven but it is an option.
Put the top on the pan and allow to cook for another 5-7 minutes until cauliflower is nice and soft.
Add the cooked mixture into a blender, being careful not to burn yourself because it is hot. You can also save some of the cauliflower to use as a topping for the soup.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend until nice and smooth. If your blender is high speed then it will blend it until nice and hot. If not, then you can warm in a pan on the stove.
Serve!
Notes
Adjust amount of broth for how thick or thin you prefer it. This will make a thicker bisque type texture.
If you don’t have a high speed blender, soak the cashews overnight to soften them. You can also boil them for 20-25 minutes if you forget. Another method is using a coffee or spice grinder to grind them dry (not soaking) into a very fine powder.
I used red potatoes but any starchy potato will work, just don’t use sweet.
Do not boil potato to cook it or it will have too much moisture. I cooked it in the microwave but you can bake it too.
If you prefer to roast the cauliflower, roast at 450 F/ 230 C for about 25 minutes until brown and crisp. I opted to pan saute so that I had less pans to clean but roasting yields a great flavor as well.
This recipe is an updated version of an old recipe, since some have asked for the old version I am including it here:1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces1 medium sized butternut squash, cut into bite sized pieces2 large leeks, chopped (white parts only)1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage1 tablespoon chopped fresh oreganosplash of your favorite oil for roasting and sautéing (or veggie broth if avoiding oil)Sea salt, ground pepper and smoked paprika to taste64 ounces veggie brothInstructions: Preheat oven to 400. Place cauliflower and butternut squash on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil (or veggie broth), salt, pepper and smoked paprika and mix well. Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes.Sauté leeks in a soup pot with a drizzle oil (or veggie broth) over medium heat. Once they begin to get soft add in sage, oregano, a dash of salt and pepper. Sauté a few more minutes then add in veggie broth and bring to a simmer.Once veggie mix is done (should be golden brown at the edges), remove from the oven and place it into the soup pot. Using an immersion blender, carefully puree the soup until smooth. If you do not have an immersion blender, you can let the soup cool a bit, then carefully puree it in a regular blender a little at a time, then add back into the soup pot.Once soup is smooth, continue to simmer and add more seasoning to get to your preferred taste.