In the Kitchen: Stock & Soup

I made my own vegetable stock today, something I've always meant to do but never bothered...It was remarkably easy. I forgot that since you're not eating the veggies and herbs in there, they can be roughly chopped and all that. Totally casual, stock. I used leeks, carrots, celery and some celery root and thyme. I wanted to use fresh thyme, but I couldn't find it at the farmer's market yesterday, so I just used some dried thyme that I had.
After simmering it all for about three hours, I strained it and put most of the stock into the freezer for future use. I also reserved some for the roasted cauliflower soup that I made.

The cauliflower soup was easy too. I just chopped the cauliflower up and cooked it for about 10 minutes with butter, onion and one leek. When it was starting to get soft, I added in two cups of milk and two cups of my homemade veggie stock. I also added in some spices: ground coriander, nutmeg (a tiny bit goes a long way), a hint of curry, paprika and turmeric, and some sea salt and ground pepper.

When it had simmered for about 30 minutes, I pureed it in the blender in batches. I also toasted some slivered almonds to use as a garnish for when I serve the soup tonight. I had a spoonful and it was delicious! Can't wait to eat more!!