RECIPE: Sweet Potato, Carrot and Coconut Soup

The other night, it was getting close to dinner time and I still hadn’t figured out what I was going to make for the family. I know it’s important to plan meals ahead of time when you’re doing the Whole Life Challenge but it had just been one of those days (you know, a Wednesday). I didn’t want to make the usual meat and vegetables. I wanted something hearty, but still Whole Life Challenge compliant. That’s when I remembered that a friend who’s been doing Whole30 (partly because I’ve been raving about the Whole Life Challenge) had sent me links to a few awesome-sounding recipes. There was one in particular that I definitely wanted to try: SweetPotato-Coconut Soup, from Jan’s Sushi Bar (it’s not a restaurant—it’s an amazing, healthy-eating, mostly Whole30 compliant food blog). So I looked up the recipe and yup, it sounded delicious.

RECIPE: Cauliflower Soup

Have you noticed that health-conscious foodies are going kind of crazy for cauliflower lately? Especially if they're trying to avoid starchy white foods like potatoes, rice and flour tortillas, it's like cauliflower is the second coming. "OMG," they'll exclaim, "you can whip it up like mashed potatoes! You can rice it!" Some say you can even transform it into tortillas (with mixed results, based on the reports I've received).

But I've always been a fan of the cauliflower. Growing up, my mom—who was a gourmet chef (okay, not professionally, but she did study at Le Cordon Bleu)—used to make cauliflower cheese for us on a semi-weekly basis. Of course, she would drench the hell out of it—coating the otherwise healthy vegetable in buttery cheese sauce and crispy breadcrumbs. Yes, it was delicious. But here's a healthy newsflash: You really don't have to douse cauliflower in dairy to achieve a creamy consistency. Even when pureed with nothing but water, the texture is decadent enough that you might think it’s got cream in it.

Of course if you want to make this recipe even richer, you can certainly use butter in place of the olive oil, or even add a bit of coconut milk (it will still be completely Whole Life Challenge, Advanced Rx compliant). But this version is super simple and a great vegan soup to boot. It’s also high in vitamin C and fiber, which makes it a perfect dish when you’re feeling under the weather (as my son and I were today). I won't say it's quite as indulgent as my mom's cauliflower cheese, but it's definitely a tasty dairy-free alternative.