Curried Cauliflower Soup

I tried to take a picture and my camera battery died.  Rather than wait an hour or two for my battery to charge before taking a picture of this soup, I decided to eat it while it was piping hot.

Just trust me when I say it was pretty.

Last week Spring teased us with some really lovely days.  Now we are in the midst of cold and rain and cloudy skys.  Today was the darkest and coldest of all the rainy spring days we've had yet and it screamed for soup.  This may also have been due to the fact that I started wearing flip flops last week and in my stubborn desire for a sunny, warm spring I refuse to go back to real shoes.

Anyway.  I've also been craving vegetables lately.  So I found this soup on Julie's blog and knew it was destined for dinner.  It's sort of got the consistency of smooth applesauce, but is warm and delicious.  My roommate and I decided it'd be perfect for a lunch on the run that you could sip out of a travel mug.

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp - 1 tbsp of curry paste
1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup cream

Put a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a large pot and get it all hot.  Put the onions in and let them saute until they are soft.  Add the garlic and curry paste and stir it around until the curry paste covers everything.  Cook for another minute or two.  Add the cauliflower and apple.  Mix everything around.  Add the broth.  Mix again so the vegetables are settled in.  If the cauliflower isn't quite covered, add a bit of water.
Bring the whole mixture to a simmer.  Cover and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or at least until the cauliflower is really tender.   Remove from heat.
With an immersion blender, or in batches in your counter blender, puree all the mixture together, til its creamy.  Return to the pot.
Stir in the cream.  Season with salt and pepper.

I also (per Julie's suggestion) chopped up a red pepper and a roma tomato.  I put it in a little olive oil in a small saucepan, added the pepper and tomato, and just let it simmer for a while.  Then I pureed it in the blender as well.  Putting a little scoop of this on top of the soup gives it a nice flavor against the curry.