Hearty Cauliflower Bisque With Kale

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 head cauliflower
• 2 -3 small waxy potatoes (redskins or yukon gold)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 quart chicken broth (i like pacific brand) or 1 quart vegetable broth (i like pacific brand)
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried tarragon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder (optional) or 1 teaspoon brewer's yeast (optional)
• salt and pepper
• 16 ounces cottage cheese
• 2/3 cup half-and-half (optional)
• 1 bunch of dinosaur kale

Recipe

• 1 in a soup pot, saute the diced onion in butter or margarine until translucent and starting to brown.
• 2 add thyme, tarragon, and bay leaf and saute for another minute. (if you can't live without garlic, add some here.).
• 3 pour in the broth and bring to a boil. while that's heating up, peel and dice the potatoes.
• 4 add potatoes and boil for about five minutes. meanwhile, chop up the cauliflower into small pieces.
• 5 add the cauliflower to the pot and add salt and pepper. turn the soup down to a medium boil and cook until the cauliflower and potatoes are very very tender. (how long that takes depends on how small you chopped them -- i would recommend chopping pretty small pieces so that it's easier to blend).
• 6 meanwhile, rinse the kale, cut out the stalks, and cut cross-wise into thin ribbons. bring a half-inch of water to a boil in a frying pan, salt the kale, and add it to the boiling water to steam until tender.
• 7 when the soup veggies are soft, stir in the cottage cheese and the bullion powder if using.
• 8 blend it all up in the pot with an immersion blender. (you could also transfer the soup to the blender in batches, but don't blend too much at a time or hot soup will explode all over!) i like this soup smooth, but not super-smooth. it's up to you how chunky or smooth you like it.
• 9 add half&half, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
• 10 to serve, ladle soup into bowls and add a big spoonful of steamed kale on top.