Cauliflower Cheese Soup

"This Cauliflower Cheese Soup is so delicious yet so easy to make. With wholesome, simple ingredients like cauliflower, carrots, celery, cheese, seasonings, stock, and milk, this soup is one that you will love making in the cold months of the year. Really simple ingredients that you may have already in your fridge or pantry but should be found easily at any grocery store. Ingredients Olive oil – Use good quality olive oil, it doesn’t have to be the best here but still an extra virgin. I have a finishing olive oil that I use more for salads or drizzling that is high quality where you want to taste the olive oil. Carrots, celery, and onion diced – This is, as the French say, a mirepoix, which is simply these three ingredients that add so much flavor, especially to a soup. Small cauliflower – I had 3/4 of a large, which worked great, too; an orange cauliflower, if you can find one, is slightly sweeter and more creamy and, of course, adds more color, too. Separate the cauliflower into florets. Dried thyme – I love this herb in a soup, and you can use it more or less according to your taste. Salt and pepper to taste – I prefer more and more to use Kosher salt for cooking and, of course, freshly ground pepper. Chicken or vegetable stock – If you would like your recipe to be vegetarian, then using a vegetable stock is what you would want. Otherwise, homemade or store-bought chicken stock is great. You could also try our Overnight Slow Cooker Chicken Stock; it cooks while you sleep!! Aged cheddar cheese, shredded – You want an old or aged cheddar here so that your soup will have flavor; using a mild or medium cheddar will not get you the cheesy goodness you are looking for. 3% milk – Using higher-fat milk will give your soup the creaminess it needs without having to use cream. Parsley – Parsley is always a lovely addition to most soups to finish it off, whether it is for color or fresh flavor that you are after."