Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

This recipe is a repost that I served for our Bucket Luncheon today.  Love this soup so much.

We are so lucky to have a restaurant chain in Utah (at least 11 locations..and a few in Arizona) of Zupa's or Cafe Zupa's.  It is the place to go for walk through dining- amazing soups (at least 10 regular soups with new daily specials), a dozen different salads but a million add-ons, paninis, etc.  Each order comes with a slice of the freshest sourdough bread (my favorite part of the meal) and a chocolate-covered strawberry.  How cool is that?  My favorite soup and my daughter's favorite soup and probably many of my friend's favorite soup is the Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup.

I tried this copy-cat recipe and found it oh-so-good.  I had to hide all evidence from my ex-attorney husband (he's not my ex, he's just a cowboy now) of cauliflower .....  and just wanted to see what he thought.  Of course he downed two bowls.  His only comment was that the texture of the soup was different than my regular cheese soup.  Yep.  And I'm not sharing why....  Delish is delish.  Make sure you are careful when blending the soup.  

Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

2 tablespoons margarine or butter (1/4 stick)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup pepper jack cheese  (if you forget and just buy jack cheese, add a dash of cayenne or tabasco)(can you tell I did that? lol)

In 4-quart saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour and salt; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and 1 1/2 cups water; add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Garnish soup with remaining cheese to serve.

or a dollop of sour cream, bacon, chives or pumpkins seeds or...........................