"Everyday Cooking"- Cauliflower Potato Soup

Last week was all about 'colds' and 'coughs' in the house. M and E both were down with cold. Since 'E' started preschool, he comes with a new cold almost every week. A friend mentioned that something with lots of 'black ground pepper' can help colds...and since a steaming hot soup can surely do that...I put together this soup.Actually I would rather have made a 'broth' based soup, but I did not have the right veggies and all I had was cauliflower and potatoes.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped Cauliflower
1/4th cup boiled mashed potato
1 cup whole milk
1cup water(add more depending on how thick you want the soup or just use 2 cups milk)
1/4 cup shredded cheese(I used Cheddar and Asadero blend)
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
1/2tsp garlic paste
1/2tsp Black ground pepper
Red pepper flakes
Croutons
Cilantro
Salt
oil

Method:
1) Heat 1 tsp oil.Fry the cauliflower till tender.
2) Add garlic paste and onions and fry till tender
3) Add the mashed potato, milk, water, black pepper.Boil together till the veggies are cooked. The soup should be semi thick consistency.
4) Add 2 tbsp cheese to the soup.Use the remaining for garnishing.
5) Garnisg with red pepper flakes, cilantro and serve hot along with toasted crunchy croutons.

                        Serve steaming hot with extra dash of black pepper!