corn and cauliflower chowder

Hooray, it's soup season again! Not like it really stops ever being soup time in SF, but after a summer of oppressive heat here in NYC, I for one am damn sure glad I can eat soup without sweating again. This was the perfect treat for using some of the last corn and cauliflower of the summer to make something warm and comforting, and totally fall.

Ingredients:
1 huge head of Cauliflower, about 2 pounds, cut into small florets, don't forget those tender pieces of stem too- chop those up and throw them in there too!
6 ears of Corn, kernels taken off the cob, about 2.5-3 cups of kernels
1 Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
6 cups of Veggie Broth
2 cups Unsweetened Soy Milk
1/4 cup AP Flour
2 Tbsp. Earth Balance
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp. Dried Thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a soup pot over medium heat, saute' the onions, garlic, and thyme until the onions are translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. When you have reached a boil, add the cauliflower and cook for 3-5 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked through, but not mushy. Add the soy milk in and stir to incorporate.

Now, this next part is completely optional: If you would like to make a smoother soup, you can blend all, or a portion of the soup so far, and get a slightly more velvety texture from the end product. Just sayin'. We chose to blend half, mostly because we don't have an immersion blender any longer, and because we still love texture. Alright, did you blend it? Whatevs, its your call, either way its gonna taste good. Back to the soup.

Add your corn and continue to cook for 10-12 minutes until the corn has cooked through. (If you used frozen corn this should only take about 5-7 minutes.) Season with salt and pepper, grab yourself some crusty bread, put on your Snuggie, and pop on a movie. Hooray for Fall!