Cauliflower Cream Soup with White Beans (Slow-Cooker)

This creamy vegetarian soup is built on humble winter staples, but the addition of sour cream and chives make it feel special. (Crumble a few sour-cream-and-onion chips on top to take the theme all of the way.) It takes just a few minutes to throw the ingredients into the slow cooker and the rest of the recipe almost entirely hands-off, making it very doable on a weekday. Use an immersion blender, if you have one, to purée it to a silky smooth consistency, but a potato masher works well for a textured, chunky soup.

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cut into 1-2" chunks
1 lb cauliflower, chopped into large bite-sized florets and stems
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained
½ yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
3½ cups vegetable stock
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. dry white wine
½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. garlic powder
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed (~ ¼ lemon)
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream, at room temperature
½ cup chives, chopped (~ 1 small bunch)

To Serve:
potato chips, preferably sour cream and onion
shredded cheddar

In a 6-8 qt slow cooker, combine the potatoes, cauliflower, beans, onion, garlic, vegetable stock, butter, wine, thyme, garlic powder and 1½ tsp. sea salt. Cover and cook until the vegetables are very tender, about 8 hours on LOW.

Remove and discard the thyme sprig and turn off the slow cooker. Add the lemon juice. To make a completely smooth and creamy soup, purée the ingredients using an immersion blender. (Or, purée the soup in a blender in two batches, transferring the puréed soup to a different pot.) To make a textured, chunky soup, smash the ingredients using a potato masher in the slow cooker. Stir in the sour cream and chives. Taste and add additional salt if necessary.

Serve in bowls topped with black pepper, crushed potato chips and shredded cheddar. For leftovers, gently reheat the soup on the stovetop or in the microwave until it just barely bubbles around the edges; don’t let it boil or the sour cream will break.

Makes 6 servings.