Healthy Cauliflower Soup (Instant Pot or Stovetop)

Instant Pot:

1. Set the Instant Pot to the SAUTÉ mode and add a the olive oil. If you prefer to cook oil-free, add a little water or vegetable broth instead and add more as needed while the vegetables cook.
2. Stir in the onion and celery. Sauté until the vegetables are starting to soften.
3. Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, thyme, ground coriander, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook for another minute.
4. Pour in the vegetable broth and water, along with the cauliflower florets, chickpeas and nutritional yeast. Scrape the bottom of the pot to release any cooked vegetable bits.
5. Close the lid of the Instant Pot, set the valve to SEALING and pressure cook on HIGH pressure for 6 minutes. (It will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure.)
6. Blending directions are below.

Stovetop:

1. Heat the olive oil (or water if cooking oil-free) in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Sauté the onion and celery until the vegetables are tender. If the saucepan is not nonstick, you may need to add a little water while cooking to stop the vegetables from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
2. Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder, thyme, ground coriander, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook for another minute.
3. Stir in the cauliflower, chickpeas, broth and water.
4. Bring to a boil, then lower heat slightly and cook at a lively simmer until the cauliflower is very tender. That should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

Blending the soup:

1. For the immersion blender, submerge the head of the blender completely in the liquid so that the hot liquid doesn’t spray out of the pot while blending. Blend the mixture, pushing down the pieces of cauliflower and chickpeas as you go, until the mixture is smooth.
2. For the regular blender, cool the mixture for about 10 minutes. Blend the mixture in two batches. The liquid will still be quite hot, so occasionally release the steam (while the blender is off) to avoid the lid blowing off the top of the blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Ladle the soup into a bowl and garnish with toasted pepitas.