When I was young, I wasn’t a soup lover. I remember getting back from school super hungry and my mom always had dinner served. For me and my younger brothers it was always the same routine. Leave the back packs at our desk, empty our lunch boxes, put the lunch containers in the dishwasher, wash our hands, and sit down to have our super early dinner. (We always had dinner very early so we could eat together as a family.)

And there was always soup. It was soup that made me super mad with my parents and the one that got me into many a scrape.

My dad is very strict and if I complained about not liking the soup, I was not allowed to drink water or eat bread to disguise the non flavorful soup. This was every single day, and not a very nice way to start dinner. But times have changed. And these days, I wholeheartedly and genuinely love soups.

I also understand my father so much more. I’m the mother of a complainer and I see now my dad’s punishment wasn’t about soup but about appreciation and gratitude. So we’re good these days. And I’m even thankful that he pushed me to try new things – it’s why I’m such a good eater and cook today. 

Now, back to soups. I’ve learned to cook soups bursting with flavor, soups that I love and crave. And I am more in love with soups when they’re interested and topped with croutons or anything crunchy. Croutons are so easy to make that you would want to top everything with them. This soup is relatively simple: a base of garlic and onion sauteed with chunks of cauliflower. But the addition of tangy Dijon brightens up the dish and compliments the topping: crunchy Dijon coated croutons.

Get the recipe.