Baked Potato Cauliflower Soup

Surely you've seen the cauliflower trend in food? People are mashing up cauliflower and saying it tastes just like mashed potatoes. They're throwing cauliflower in as a clever substitute for potatoes everywhere.

And, well, I'm not always the first to a trend, but I'd pinned some of these cleverly titled, well-photographed, well reviewed recipes and finally the time came. I bought a head of cauliflower. It's not a food I enjoy, mostly because it looks strange. It's completely white, has little to no taste, and doesn't appear to be something I should waste my time on.

But I'd already bought the cauliflower so I HAD to make the recipe. And you know what? It was good. It wasn't even not bad. I didn't tell Carson that it was cauliflower instead of potato, just that there was a secret ingredient. I knew he'd eat it either way; I just wanted to see what HE thought - and he couldn't tell. He said it had a better texture. It was really filling and we were stuffed when we scraped the bottom of our bowls.

Here's how if you'd like to make this recipe too.

Baked Potato Cauliflower Soup
Original Recipe here.
Makes about 8 servings.
Time: took me just under an hour including chopping veggies and setting the table. Do that beforehand and this is a piece of cake.

You'll Need:
8 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 an onion chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced (or one teaspoon of jarred minced garlic)
4 cups shredded or grated cauliflower (1/2 large head - I didn't measure and just grated the whole thing)
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons flour
2 C chicken broth, divided
2 C 2% Milk (we had whole)
3-4 dashes hot sauce
2.5 C shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 green onions, chopped (for garnish

Chop all the vegetables. Chop chop chop. This is the most time-consuming part... and grating cauliflower is really weird)
Saute bacon in large pot over medium until crisp. Set bacon aside and remove all but 1T drippings from pot (or more... it's a taste thing).
Whisk flour and 1/4 of the broth in a small bowl and set aside
Add onion, celery and garlic to the pot, seasoned with salt and pepper and saute until tender (4-5 minutes).
Add cauliflower and onion to the pot. Add water, put a lid on top and steam for about 5-7 minutes, until cauliflower is tender. Add the non-flour chicken broth and the milk and bring all to a boil.
Whisk in flour-broth slowly, then turn down to a simmer for about four minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese and about half of the bacon. Taste and add salt and pepper and hot sauce to your liking. Serve topped with cheese, bacon and green onion.

Here's the grated cauliflower... looks like cheese but not quite as tasty. And be careful: easy to shred your knuckles; I nearly did!