As far as I’m concerned, roasted garlic is one of the greatest things to ever come out of a kitchen. The way that a little bit of heat transforms pungent raw garlic into something sweet and mild is nothing short of magical. It adds such a lovely layered flavor to anything you put it in, like this Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Soup, for instance. It’s creamy and velvety without relying on any dairy products at all and has a deliciously sweet and mild garlic flavor.

While the texture is creamy and velvety, it’s a soup you can feel good about eating. After all, it’s mostly made up of vegetables and broth, and a few herbs to bring all the flavors into the right balance. The main players are cauliflower and garlic, but there are also carrots to add some sweetness and color, and some thyme and rosemary too.

You start by roasting two whole heads of garlic, which may seem like a lot, but I promise that the soup handles it well. It’s the perfect compliment to cauliflower, which is a master at taking on any flavor it’s paired with. You roast the garlic while the rest of the ingredients simmer and squeeze the cloves in at the very end of cooking before you puree everything together. It’s a simple soup, but it’s one of those recipes that just goes to show that the simple things in life are often the best.