Dairy Free "Cream" of Cauliflower Soup

We are homebound today after after freezing rain and snow blew through last night. What makes it worse is they are not expecting the temperatures to go above freezing for the next couple of days. This kind of weather shuts everything down around our neck of the woods, we are in the south, we don't do snow well. (right after husband spent twenty minutes clearing the car, his work called and told to him to stay home, his office would be closed)

I like being homebound, it puts me in the mood to cook, and soup is a natural for days like today. I make a lot of soup, especially in the winter, pair it with a sandwich or a nice piece of bread and you have a meal. I am always on the lookout for a new recipe and have been trying to find ways to adapt some of the old recipes I made before going dairy free. 

I used to make a cauliflower cheese soup, it no longer worked with my new dairy free lifestyle, but I really had a taste for it.  I started with the base of the old cauliflower cheese recipe and adjusted and added/deleted  ingredients until I came up with something that tasted pretty good. An immersion blender and coconut milk made it so creamy that I didn't even miss the cheese. I knew it was a winner when husband remarked that I needed to write down what I did so I could make this soup again. 

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower

1 carrot, chopped

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2-3 slices of bacon, chopped 

1-2 cups coconut milk

1 tablespoon butter spread (I use Earth Balance)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tsp salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Break/cut  cauliflower into small pieces and cook in water till fork tender. While cauliflower cooking saute chopped carrot and onion in 1 tablespoon butter spread in saucepan until tender, take it out of saucepan and set aside. Then cook bacon in that same saucepan until crisp, drain on paper towel. Once cauliflower is cooked, drain and add remaining butter spread, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add about a cup of coconut milk and begin using the immersion blender and continue adding the coconut milk until it gets to the consistency that you like. I blended the cauliflower until it was pretty smooth, you may like it a little chunkier. After blending the cauliflower I added the bacon, (reserve a little for garnish)  blended, then added the onions and carrots. I only blended a few seconds after I added carrots and onion because I wanted some texture. I garnished with the leftover bacon bits.

I like the thicker consistency, you may like yours a little thinner. Seasoning could also be adjusted to your taste. My goal was to make a cream soup without using dairy, this worked