Golden Cauliflower with Green Garlic

The growing season has returned to the mid-Hudson Valley! Here in Hyde Park, both my local farmers market and Hearty Roots CSA are back in business as of this week. That means that my soups will start to include these lovely fresh, organic ingredients straight from the farm. If you also receive a weekly farm share and aren't always sure what to do with your produce, this might be a good place to follow along as I cook with my farm share too.This week's soup features a puree of cauliflower and potato along with some of the early season crops from my farm share, Japanese turnips and green garlic.

I began by chopping a large onion and sauteing it in olive oil in the bottom of the soup pot until it was translucent. While it was cooking, I washed and cut into chunks a whole cauliflower, 5 white potatoes and the roots of 6 turnips. I saved the green tops for later.

I added the potatoes, cauliflower and turnip roots to the onions and covered them with water, bring the pot to a boil to cook until tender. I season the mixture with Adobo seasoning, black pepper, a couple teaspoons of garam masala and a couple teaspoons of turmeric.

One of the more unusual vegetables in my farm share this week was green garlic. The immature bulb of the garlic is milder than a mature bulb. The green leaves remind me of leeks. In the center is the flowering stalk called the scape, which is full of garlic flavor with bright green overtones and a snappy texture on the teeth.


I cleaned the garlic, trimmed the end of the leaves, removed the fibrous center stalk and chopped the rest. Then I sauteed it in a bit of olive oil until it was tender and set it aside.


When the cauliflower, potatoes, and turnip roots were tender, I turned off the stove and let them cool a bit. I borrowed my landlady's immersion blender and I've learned my lesson in past soups about splattering molten vegetable purees around the kitchen. As soon as it was down to a safe, but still warm, temperature, I pureed the contents of my pot until it was smooth.


With the soup rich and smooth, I returned it too the heat and washed and chopped the tops of the turnip greens.


I finished the soup by stirring the turnip greens and sauteed green garlic into the pot. The greens cooked in just a couple of minutes. The garlic and Indian spices are so fragrant - this soup smells as good as it tastes.