Cheeseburger Soup

By Sharon Hapton and Gwendolyn Richards

Liam Lewis, Age 15, Little Locavore Blogger, thelittlelocavore.ca, Vancouver, BC:

“My parents would “hide” nutrition inside my favorite foods like this cheeseburger soup. Cauliflower is a very stealthy vegetable that can sneak into many delicious meals, and their baked macaroni and cheese almost always had a hidden head of cauliflower inside. After I started cooking, my parents let me in on their secrets to make my “picky eater” plates healthier.”

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Cheeseburger Soup

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp butter
• ¼ cup finely chopped shallots
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 3 cups chopped cauliflower florets
• ½ sweet red pepper seeded and chopped
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 cups beef stock
• 2 tsp your favourite mustard
• 2 cups shredded old white cheddar cheese
• 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cheeseburger toppings (choose your favourite toppings)

• Chopped chives

• Sliced tomatoes (cherry are best, because they are bite-size small) 
• Pickle slices 
• Ketchup or mustard drizzle 
• Red chili flakes or hot pepper sauce to taste 
• More cheese (please!) 

Instructions

• In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the shallots start to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the cauliflower and red pepper and cook, stirring, until the red pepper is tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add the flour and stir until well blended. Immediately add the stock and mustard, stirring well to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add the cheese, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring until each addition is melted before adding more. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the beef, seasoning it with salt and pepper to taste and stirring, until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. You can break up the larger lumps with the spoon or leave it chunkier. Drain off and discard the excess fat, then set aside.
• Using an immersion blender in the pot, blend the soup until smooth. Stir in the cooked beef. Reheat the soup gently over medium heat.
• Ladle the soup into warm bowls and garnish with your favorite cheeseburger toppings (see sidebar).
• Prefer a chunkier soup? Skip the puréeing step.

Notes

For a gluten-free soup, replace the flour with 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch, whisking it with about 1/2 cup cold stock before adding it to the pot.

For a vegetarian soup, use vegetable stock and replace the ground beef with your favorite vegetable protein.

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