The now ubiquitous Ayurvedic tonic Golden Milk becomes a soup for spring. It’s such a great balance for the season with its light, warming, cleansing energies, and yet so hearty and beautiful you can almost hear it sing, “Mmm, I love spring!”

With cauliflower, turmeric, a bit of radish, parsley and spicy pumpkin seeds for garnish, it’s a bowl that gathers up spring’s pungent, astringent and bitter tastes for a symphony of united flavors, deliciously retuning the body to seasonal rhythms.

The pungent taste is spicy. Its heating qualities help melt the cold of winter and encourage circulation. Astringent is drying, helping to soak up the excess water of spring, tightening and toning the body. Bitters purify, detoxify and help to lighten us up after winter’s heaviness.

Here, I have two versions for you. After making the Golden Soup for lunch, I took what was leftover and stirred it with a sautéed onion, celery, vegetable broth and a handful of roasted florets to make dinner. This second version is more of a chunky soup than a golden purée, but wow, the celery rocks the roasted cauliflower for a feast of spring.

Both versions are so good I couldn’t choose just one and so offer you both, even though I only photographed the first. I hope you will try it and let me know what you think. Plus, I have a book for you below.

Golden Soup: Toasted Turmeric Cauliflower Purée
Serves 2

Inspired by Katie’s Healing Kitchen’s Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower, pictured below.

Ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower broken into bite-size florets
3 tablespoons ghee, or refined coconut oil
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon spring spice blend from my book, or your favorite curry powder
1 teaspoon pink (or mineral) salt
a generous sprinkling of fresh cracked black pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
1 handful parsley
spicy pumpkin seeds for crunch

Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 425. In a bowl, toss the cauliflower with oil, turmeric, spring spice blend or curry powder, salt and black pepper. Scatter on baking sheets  and shake the pan so the florets spread evenly.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until crispy, stirring after 20 minutes to prevent burning. Remove from the oven, and pour the roasted cauliflower into a blender with vegetable broth. Transfer to a soup pan to heat through, about 3 minutes.

Spoon into bowls and garnish with parsley, radish slices and spicy pumpkin seeds. Basil, dill and chives are also gorgeous with this bowl.

          *  Learn more about turmeric’s benefits and the best way to take it. *

Version 2: Chunky Golden Soup with Celery & Roasted Florets
Serves 2

For this version, you will need extra roasted florets. I had roasted two heads of cauliflower so I’d have florets to snack on while the soup was heating. Some of those florets made it into this soup.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon ghee
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 teaspoon curry powder, optional
1-2 cups golden purée (above)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup turmeric roasted cauliflower florets (see above)
1 handful pine nuts

Instructions
Melt the ghee in a pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion until it is translucent. Stir in the celery and sauté 2 minutes. If adding, stir in the curry powder and cook another minute. Mix in the golden purée and the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and simmer a minute or two.

Meanwhile, toss a handful of pine nuts onto a hot pan. Shake the pan a few times to turn the pine nuts. Once brown, remove from heat.

Serve the soup hot, garnished with fresh herbs and toasted pine nuts.

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My friend and golden girl Melissa Ambrosini has a new book out. It is written for young women wanting to grab life by its heart. Would you like it? Drop a comment below and I will randomly pick a name on Friday for someone to get her beautiful book.

Big love to you!