Cauliflower soup & cracked wheat and cashew salad

A mixture of two light dinners tonight.

Firstly cauliflower soup, based on a Stephanie Alexander recipe. I bought a rather fleshy chicken carcass from Farm-Direct on the weekend and last night made chicken stock. Tonight I cooked the florets of 2 cauliflowers (also from Farm Direct) in a large saucepan in the stock. Once the cauliflower was cooked I added a teaspoon of Vegemite (that's Marmite for a lot of you) and stirred until dissolved. I then pureed the soup with Delia the hand blender, seasoned, and added grated Parmesan. Done!

Whilst the cauliflower was cooking I made a side salad of cracked wheat and cashews, also a recipe of Stephanie's.

Ingredients:
1T olive oil
200g cracked wheat
1 1/2 cups water
salt
125g roasted, unsalted cashews
2T lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1T freshly chopped mint
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
freshly ground black pepper
2T extra virgin olive oil

I also added roasted beetroot, pomegranate seeds and a little pomegranate molasses.

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and stir in cracked wheat (bulgur) to coat. Add water, salt and cashews. Bring to simmering point then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until liquid has been absorbed. Leave to cool and then add remaining ingredients.

The salad was a lovely side to accompany the soup, but would also have been nice with grilled chicken or lamb. The soup was very yummy and will taste even better in a day or two for lunch I imagine.