Well, I just graduated high school. That’s a big deal right? Woah, wait, let’s stop for a second here and think about that. Yep, I don’t feel all that different. Actually, I am pretty ecstatic that I no longer have to wake up at 5:40 in the morning to get ready for school. Plus graduation presents are always nice, not that I would take them for granted or anything. I’m pretty confident that I’m one of the very few teenagers that would get excited over an old weathered coffee table for one of my graduation presents.
Speaking of graduation presents I also was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Paleo Kitchen. Getting this in the mail was like a little graduation present from my friend George Bryant and Juli Bauer. My first thought behind this book was the fact that these two HUGE paleo super powers were combining their cosmic cave minds to procure this piece of foodie literature. To be honest, I was skeptical at first, and thought it would be confused since they both have their own style in flavor choices, and food styling but it actually turned out to be a very well pieced together cookbook.
In most cookbooks there are always a couple of recipes that jump out to me but it’s a rare moment in time that I actually have all the ingredients in the kitchen. The stars must have lined up for me because in the case of their creamy cauliflower soup I was actually prepared to make it right then. So of course I made it and of course I added fried sage because I’m fancy like that.
After making this soup with the fried sage I made a realization that I really should be using more fried sage in my food. If you have never tried fried sage on something or with something I highly recommend that you do. Think about it, it’s sage, but it’s fried. Awesome.
- Large Head of Cauliflower cut into florets
- 5 tablespoons of ghee or fat of choice, melted and divided (can be made dairy free with lard or coconut oil)
- 1 large yellow onion thinly sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch of sage leaves separated
- ¼ cup of lard, ghee or high heat cooking fat
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl add cauliflower florets and pour over 3 tablespoons of the melted ghee or fat of choice, season with salt and pepper, and toss well to coat with fat. Spread cauliflower onto a large baking sheet to form a single layer and place into the oven for 45-50 minutes or until cauliflower florets are golden browned on the edges and tender.
- If making the fried sage go ahead and start making it while the cauliflower is roasting in the oven by heating the lard, ghee, or high heat cooking fat of choice in a small skillet over medium heat until hot and add sage (3-4 leaves at a time) and let fry for 4-5 seconds and place on a paper towel to drain, season with salt. Once you're finished you can store the frying fat that you used to fry the sage to re-use later (it's sage infused now!).
- Once the cauliflower is finished (you can save 4 small roasted florets for garnishing) heat remaining 2 tablespoons of ghee in a large pot or dutch oven and add onions and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until onions begin to soften, add roasted cauliflower, chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat and stir in coconut milk then carefully add all of the contents in the pot to a blender as to avoid splashing. Blend until smooth and serve garnished with fried sage leaves and a roasted cauliflower floret if you saved one.
That looks SO good! I’d be another very happy teen if someone gave me a weathered coffee table – I love how rustic it looks!
Congrats! And this looks so amazing, love roasted cauliflower!
Yay! Congrats on graduation! I just finished my freshman year of high school. Three years to go.
This looks amazing. I was also really excited for The Paleo Kitchen; I’ve been following Juli Bauer’s blog for a really long time. Adding fried sage is an awesome idea! 🙂
Woooo!!! Congratulations!!! I bet you feel so free haha, but no doubt, you will excel at whatever you choose to do in the future Joshua!
This soup looks amazing too, love the sound of coconut with the nutty cauliflower!
Hello Josh and congratulations on graduating from high school! I have your cookbook and it is one of the nicest cookbooks I own – great job!! I have a question regarding your Roasted Cauliflower Soup. Does it takes like coconuts from using the coconut milk? Keep doing all the wonderful things you do. You have a very bright future ahead of you 🙂
This does not a have a coconut flavor at all. The coconut milk just gives it a slightly sweet creaminess to the soup. It’s wonderful. So glad you’re enjoying my cookbook!
Congratulations! And I would be a pretty happy adult with such a gift!
I am such an undeveloped palate bumbling through TRYING to transition my eating into something not addicted to crap that I wouldn’t know sage if it bit me in the butt, let alone fried sage.
Sage is an herb like thyme, rosemary, etc. I bet you can find it at your local grocery store.
Thanks! I do know rosemary, enough that I don’t care for it actually. And I recognize Cilantro, but beyond that? Clueless!
Thank you! I have SO MUCH to learn.
This was delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe. I added a bit more stock in for a little less coconut flavour!
This was fantastic! We used a combo avocado/coconut oil for the sage and it was so delicious with the roasted cauliflower! Almost tastes like a dessert. Thank you 🙂
Looks good, but I would fry the sage first, then use that ghee to roast the cauliflower. The soup would have the sage flavor and I wouldn’t have to save a smidgeon of oil in something and hope to remember to use it later.
Your blog recently popped up via Nom Nom Paleo, and you are now on my feed! As I was browsing through, I came upon this recipe. I made it the next day! It was SO GOOD. Even my daughter likes it! Mine didn’t taste like coconut at all, and it is very creamy! Oh, and I learned how to make ghee because of this recipe!
A nice, easy-to-follow recipe.