“V, what do you want to do for your birthday this year?” I asked my soon-to-be three year old.

“I want to have a pahty,” she replied. (Naturally.)

“What kind of party?”

“Ummm… a puhple pahty! At a pahk!”

And since then, I’ve heard every day about this purple party at a park that she’s going to have. We’re gonna have purple food, purple drinks, purple plates, and purple clothes. We may just paint the park purple. This thing has prematurely become the stuff of legends.

Lest you think I’m a pinteresty hostess, let me assure you that last year’s ladybug cupcakes looked like unidentifiable monsters, and my son’s train-themed party was entirely devoid of trains, save for the cake. I’m a far cry from Martha Stewart, folks. Luckily, since my kid’s invite lists are largely relegated to family, the attendees are usually pretty forgiving of my “nailed-it!”-worthy attempts at making things cute.

This post contains affiliate links. 

All that to say, we’ve been playing with all things purple as we count down to our official Puhple Pahk Pahty. Which leads me to our most recent experiment…. purple soup!

My kids were delighted by the color of this soup- and miracle of miracles, they actually ate it too. Moms will be happy to know that it’s naturally colored with an ultra-secret ingredient: purple cauliflower. You can find purple cauliflower at many grocery stores, or if you’re ambitious you could even buy seeds to grow your own.

I adapted this recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, an excellent vegetarian cookbook. Even though we aren’t vegetarians, we tend to go meatless several nights a week. It’s nice to have some reliable and creative recipes on hands that don’t rely on meat products.

Note: I used my homemade chicken stock in this recipe. Feel free to adapt according to your family’s preference.

Purple Cauliflower Soup

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 4 cups chopped purple cauliflower, chopped
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp fennel seed or ground fennel
• salt & pepper to taste
• chives for garnish

1. Heat butter in a large pot. Add chopped onion and cook til soft, about 5-10 minutes.
2. Add chopped potatoes and cook for about 5 more minutes.
3. Add chicken stock, cauliflower, and spices. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes and cauliflower are fork-tender.
4. Puree the soup either in a blender or by using an immersion blender. (Which is by far one of my favorite kitchen tools!)
5. Garnish with chives if desired. Enjoy!

That’s it! This is a quick, healthy, and relatively cheap meal- you could always make it white if you’re looking to save a buck or two on specialty cauliflower. But for us, the color was at least half the fun of this soup.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve just got to go pull off this puhple pahty! 😉

/center>