Cheeseburger Soup

Last night's dinner plans involved Cheeseburger Soup, some grain-free buns to sop up  the soup, and a nice salad full of veggies to start things off.

My day's plan - and I am still slowly getting energy and strength back, so I keep my ambitions small - was to declutter the corner of the living room where my recliner is.  This is my nest, and after months of terrible RA flaring, it was really starting to resemble Big Bird's giant nest.  It took about 1 1/2 hours, of bending over to scoop clutter from the floors, from under my chair or behind it, sorting through it all to figure out what was trash and what wasn't, and then carrying things to where they belong.

In the process I wore myself out, and managed to hurt my knees and wrist enough that I couldn't start dinner prep until Michael got home to help.  And he'd had a long day capped off with a long commute, so...

There was no salad.  There were no buns.

Fortunately, the Cheeseburger Soup was delicious and filling to make up for what there wasn't, and since it contains cauliflower, we weren't totally vegetable-less.

This recipe comes from the Wheat Belly Cookbook - we've tried 3 recipes from it now, and all three are winners, so I'm very happy with this cookbook!

That said, we both agreed a couple modifications would have made it better, so this recipe is with our mods (more cauliflower, more cheese, some seasoning differences):

Cheeseburger Soup
serves 4 (or 2 with 'seconds')

4 cups homemade bone broth (chicken or beef)
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 Tblsp butter, coconut oil, lard or tallow
1 onion, minced
1 lb ground beef (ours was grass-fed beef from Bowen Farm)
1 Tblsp turmeric
1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
2 tsp Hungarian paprika (or to taste)
cracked black pepper, to taste
1 tsp. coconut flour
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In a large sauce pot, heat broth to simmer and add the cauliflower.  Cook until cauliflower is tender.

Meanwhile, heat fat in a large pan, and brown onions and ground beef, stirring often to keep it broken up.  Add seasonings, and set aside. 

Using a stick blender, puree the cauliflower in the broth - this provides a creamy base without adding milk.  If you don't have a stick blender, you can turn the soup into a blender, puree, and return to the pot.

Remove about 1/4 cup of broth and combine with coconut flour in a small dish, then stir the resulting slurry into the pot, whisking constantly for 3 minutes or until thickened slightly.

Whisk in the cheese until just melted, then add the ground beef and onions and remove from heat to serve.

We didn't have any toppers, but this would be amazing with any or all of the following: a dab of sour cream or thickened yogurt, some chopped bacon, chopped avocado, or chopped tomato.  Tossing in some spinach or other greens would also be good.

I'm seeing this soup as a 'base' for all sorts of variations - we will definitely be doing it again!

My intentions for today:
- declutter living room end table and coffee table
- being brining brisket for this weekend
- see if my hands can manage a little cross stitch (it's been several months)
- Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Sauerkraut for Dinner tonight
   

Shared with: 
Sweet Saturday Link Party,Simply Natural Saturdays, One Creative Weekend, Souper Sunday, Sunday School Blog Carnival, Craft-O-Maniac Monday,  Melt in Your Mouth Monday, On the Menu Monday,That DIY Party, Mix It Up Monday, Marvelous Mondays, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Make Your Own Monday, Nomday Monday, Thank Goodness It's Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, Made By You Monday, Natural Living Monday,The Gathering Spot, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Family Table Tuesday, Hearth & Soul Hop, Trick or Treat Link Party, Green Living Tuesday, Tutorial Tuesday, Tuesday Greens, Traditional Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday, Wicked Awesome Wednesday, Wellness Wednesday, Waste Not, Want Not Wednesday, Wheat-Free Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesday,Whole-Foods Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Party Wave Wednesday, Transformation Thursday, Thursdays Treasure, Thrifty Thursday, Thank Your Body Thursday, The Homeacre Hop, The Delightfully Inspiring Thursday Party, Creative Juice, Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Tasty Traditions, Keep It Real Thursday.