Cauliflower Arugula Soup

Note: the above photo is actually of a cauliflower watercress soup, but the version I made looked the same so I included it here.

Once upon a time, I hated cauliflower. NO MORE, I say. Granted, I hadn't actually eaten it for about fifteen years - but the hate still managed to stay strong inside my core. You know how rigid adults can be with the foods they hate? Yeah, we all need to get better about that. And also? This soup blew my face off. 

It doesn't seem to make any sense that a soup this creamy wouldn't actually have any cream or milk inside of it. I'm not really sure how that happened. Nevertheless, I'm now into cauliflower.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 tbsp whole wheat flour
4 cups low sodium chicken broth 
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped
4 cups arugula (3 oz)
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
"In a pot (big enough for spaghetti), melt the butter over low heat. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and stir about 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and cauliflower and increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over medium-low until vegetables are tender (about 20 minutes.) Add the arugula until wilted, about 1 minute and puree with a blender until completely smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste."

This recipe is totally not my creation, I adapted it slightly from Skinnytaste. That site is amazing. The original recipe can be found here. 

Phenomenal, Low-Fat Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 7 ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 2-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour, though)
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 oz (3/4 cup) chopped walnuts
• baking spray

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease two 8x5 inch loaf pans with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg whites, bananas, apple sauce and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

Add flour mixture and walnuts, then blend at low speed until combined. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into loaf pans and bake on the center rack for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the pan cool at least 20 minutes, bread should be room temperature before slicing.

Recipe taken from Skinny Taste. 

I just made this for the first time and good God... it's a great one. Definitely will be my go-to one from now on. It also calls for an electric mixer, but I didn't have one so I used a vigorous motion with my hands. I did one loaf with 1/3 cup of walnuts and the other with 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Just delicious.