They are much bigger than last year and for $5 each you will secure about 1.7 kilograms of food to feed the family.

Think cauliflower steaks, cauliflower rice and even cauliflower soup, to name a few.

The Slow Food Earth Market Maitland served up cauliflower soup on Thursday for $5 a cup to raise money for market infrastructure.

Chairwoman Amorelle Dempster said cauliflowers were the perfect vegetable to add to your winter repertoire.

"They are heavy and very dense, we've got the purple and the cheddar varieties. The cheddar one is a caramel colour," she said.

"They are absolutely perfect at the moment and are full of flavour. I think it's because we had the flood and it brought all those nutrients to the soil so the vegetables are beautiful."

Scroll down for the recipe ...

Ms Dempster said left over cauliflower could be turned into a soup and frozen in containers. That way a family could enjoy a healthy mid-week meal instead of buying takeaway.

"Soup is a great way to use up those left over winter vegetables and to make vegetables go further," she said.

"Serving it with some sourdough is another way to fill you up."

Ms Dempster said the earth market pop-up stall would be at Maitland Community Markets at Maitland Showground on Sunday from 9am.

"Our vegetables are really well priced, you are getting it so fresh too - sometimes you buy it and the dew is still on it," she said.

"They have so much life in them because they are so fresh when you buy them."

Ingredients:

Note: Amorelle used almond milk, added nutritional yeast and roasted the cauliflower for extra flavour.

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pot and add the garlic and onion.

Cook over medium-high heat until golden brown.

Add the cauliflower, broth and milk and bring it to a boil. Then cook over medium-high heat for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft.

Add the salt, black pepper and nutritional yeast and blend using an immersion or a regular blender.

Serve with your favourite toppings. We added some peas, toasted almond slices, chopped chives and more ground black pepper.