Honey Love

As June comes to a close so does my love affair with honey. Well, that is a lie. My love of honey isn't going anywhere. However, my experiments with it are coming to a close. As I've mentioned before soup is my all time favorite food. If I had my choice I would open a restaurant that served only soup, maybe a few sandwiches or salads mixed in but ultimately soup. So I doubt it is a surprise to anyone that I felt compelled to make a soup starring honey. Let me tell you, this was not an easy task! I played around with the idea of several different co-stars for this soup and eventually decided it had to be a vegetable based dish. My next thought was to take it all the way, make it a completely vegetarian dish. So this one is dedicated to my favorite vegetarians Amanda, Richard, Mikie, Jaden, Josie, and little Ryleigh. (Ok, so every vegetarian I know is my favorite.) And they are truly inspiring people. I try to eat vegetarian a couple times a week and I recommend it to anyone who is attempting to up their intake of fruits and veggies. I promise you wont miss the meat for one or two meals and to be completely honest they will most likely be the healthiest, most wholesome, well balanced meals you eat that week.
Back to the soup. I decided picking a vegetable with a slightly sweet tone that the honey would complement would be the best choice. It had to be carrots, nothing else fit the criteria as well. The cauliflower has no real importance as far as complementing the honey. It just fairs really well with carrots and it just so happens that I only like cauliflower when it is in soup. This soup is wonderfully simple to prepare. The roasting of the vegetables can be slightly time consuming (40-50 mins) but don't skip this step! I realize the cook time could be drastically reduced by steaming or boiling the carrots and cauliflower but roasting is essential to the balance of flavors. The flavors from the roasted vegetables are delicious in their own right but its really the honey that binds it all together. The honey also makes this soup picky eater friendly. I would encourage parents to try this one on their children.

Roasted carrot and cauliflower soup with honey and chives

3-4 medium carrots
1 head cauliflower
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
4 cups stock or broth (vegetable)
honey
fresh chives
oil
salt and pepper

clean and cut carrots and cauliflower into bit size pieces. toss is oil and salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast is a 400 degree oven until caramelized on the outside and cooked through. In the mean time dice your onion and garlic and saute, add stock. When the vegetables finish roasting add to stock and puree. This soup will be a hearty one, thick and full bodied. Bowl soup and drizzle the honey over top. garnish with fresh chives. serves 4


Not in the mood for soup? start with the roasted veggies and instead of adding them to a stock, toss them in a kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment (or mash by hand if your super ambitious) a couple pats of butter and a drizzle of honey. Whip until smooth and serve as a side dish.