Warm, soothing, nourishing and satisfying, soup is the ultimate comfort food. You don’t even have to chew it. One of my favorite fall soups is cauliflower soup.

Both broccoli and cauliflower are cruciferous flower buds yet cauliflower doesn’t provoke the same love / hate relationship many Americans have with its green cousin, broccoli. Those who love broccoli claim it is interesting, delicious and fun to eat, and laud its health benefits. Those who hate it complain of its strong taste and gassiness; President George Bush Sr. once said that it “tastes like medicine”.

In contrast, cauliflower has been broccoli’s quiet, shy, inconspicuous cousin. Few Americans cared much either way. But now that cauliflower has become the most recent veggie superstar, that is about to change. With headlines that scream “Cauliflower is the new Kale”, cauliflower has been touted by the media, from Eating Well magazine to the Huffington Post.

And rightly so; cauliflower is quite nutritious. The low-calorie veggie is a good source of fiber and antioxidants. It contains vitamins A, C, and K plus folate and many of the B-complex ones, as well as 18 amino acids, Omega-3 fatty acid, and the minerals potassium, calcium, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, selenium and zinc. A cruciferous veggie, cauliflower supplies anticancer agents like indoles and quercetin. It contains compounds that prompt the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing chemicals and interfere with the replication of cancer cells.

Because it’s white in color, the low-calorie veggie has been hailed as a healthy alternative to mashed potatoes or added to mashed potatoes to lighten them up. Roasted cauliflower has been hyped as a replacement for French fries. I have seen recipes for pizza crust made from mashed cauliflower, tortillas made from cauliflower, cauliflower pancakes and cauliflower fritters.

Cauliflower can be served raw, sauteed, steamed, stir-fried, or boiled. But it is best in soup. Renowned cookbook author Kate McMillan offers four distinctive reasons to simmer cauliflower in our soup kettles. But I say cauliflower soup is simply delicious.

Today, cream of broccoli and broccoli cheese soup remain popular, but both have developed a poor repute due to their traditionally high calorie and fat content. The canned varieties all taste the same, and in most restaurant versions the vegetables play second fiddle to a bowl of thick cream sauce or glorified fondue. Traditional broccoli-cheese soup, made with lots of butter, cream and Cheddar cheese can have 400 calories and 18g saturated fat per serving.

On the other hand, cauliflower soup is original. It’s not the same old, like broccoli. And I dare say, I haven’t yet seen it in a can from Campbell’s.

Native to the Middle East, cauliflower wasn’t introduced to Europe until the 16th century. In French cuisine, creamy cauliflower soup, Creme du Barry, is named after Madame Jeanne Bcu, Comtesse du Barry, the last mistress of King Louis XV who was guillotined at age 50 on Dec. 8, 1793. Her name has become associated with several dishes based on cauliflower, most prominent being cauliflower soup. You can find recipes for Crme du Barry on the Internet.

In my home, Mom has made creamy, tasty, brothy, savory, comforting cauliflower soup with tender chunks of cauliflower, chicken, herbs, and veggies, ever since I can remember.

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Mom’s Cauliflower soup with Egg Drop Noodles

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Ingredients:

6 cups water

1 chicken thigh

1 teaspoon salt

Few grains allspice

1 bay leaf

1 small carrot (or half large)

1 small parsnip

Piece of leek

Piece of celery root or 1 stalk celery, cut up

1 small head cauliflower (or 1/2 large) or about 6 cups florets

1 egg

1 Tablespoon flour

Few drops milk or water (if needed)

1 cup fresh minced parsley

1/4 cup sour cream

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Directions:

Place water, chicken thigh, salt, allspice and bay leaf in soup kettle. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer.

While the above is cooking, prepare the vegetables (carrot, parsnip, leek, celery) and add.

Simmer 30 to 40 minutes.

Add cauliflower, and simmer 20 30 minutes longer.

Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Dice vegetables & cauliflower; remove meat from bones & cut up; remove allspice and bay leaf (if you can find them). Taste, and add more salt if needed.

Return vegetables and meat to pot. Mash coarsely with potato masher.

Make egg drop noodles:

In a large mug, beat 1 egg with 1 Tablespoon flour. It should be a very thick liquid?-?still pourable – the consistency of pancake dough or honey or sour cream.

Return the soup to a rolling boil. Pour the dough from the mug in a thin stream into the boiling soup. Cover, reduce heat to simmer for a few minutes, then turn off heat.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and a little sour cream, if desired.

Serves four.

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Author of the award-winning cookbook Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market, Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: cooking and writing. She can be reached at www.wordsaremyworld.com or on Facebook as Author Yvona Fast.