Eating Well: Celeriac Soup

Last week it hit me that I really want to do more recipes on the blog this year. I cook ALL the time and I love it so much -- the problem is with documenting the cooking as it happens. I almost never do that, probably out of sheer laziness, and I resolve this year to be less lazy with things like this. This wasn't hard, and it actually kept me more organized with my ingredients and cooking surface throughout (after all, I had to compose the photos well ...).

Are you familiar with celeriac, or celery root? It basically tastes like a more delicate, complex version of celery, but it's definitely not celery. It's an ugly root that normally most people probably wouldn't look twice at. It's in the picture below in the lower left, after I peeled it.

I got one of these beauties (read more about celeriac here) in my CSA box a couple of weeks ago, and after some inspiration from my friend Meghan, decided to use it in a soup. It's really a simple soup, and it tastes great along with being warming to cold winter bones. I highly recommend it.

Ingredients:

1 celeriac (celery root), peeled
3 leeks
3 cloves of garlic
Butter or butter substitute (I use Earth Balance) - 2 tablespoons
Veggie stock or vegetable bouillon (1 cube)
Salt (I used Eatwell Farm lemon salt, but any sea salt is fine)
Chili powder - 1/8 teaspoon
White pepper - 1 teaspoon
Olive oil (not shown) - 2-3 tablespoons
Water (not shown) - 6 cups

Other things:

Immersion blender (or regular blender/food processor)

Directions:

Peel your celery root.
Clean your leeks. Peel your garlic.

Heat the olive oil & butter in a large saucepan.

lemon salt from my- CSA, eatwell farm

clean leeks

leeks and garlic, chopped up

Slice & dice your leeks & garlic. These go into your pot (hot with olive oil and butter) to saute until leeks are translucent and garlic is soft. Stir often to avoid burning, and if you find conditions to be getting too dry in there (I did), just add more olive oil or butter.

Add sea salt at this time to aid in softening.

cubed celery root

Cube your peeled celery root. By this time your leeks & garlic should be happy:

happy leeks & garlic

Next, add your celery root, 6 cups of water and vegetable bouillon cube. Or, if you're using stock, 3 cups of stock & 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. After boiling, cover the pot BUT leave the lid ajar. Lower heat to a strong simmer and leave that way for 45 minutes -- until the celery root is soft.

after adding the celery root + water + bouillon

After 45 minutes has passed, turn off heat and get out your immersion blender (or food processor).  Add chili powder and white pepper at this time, then blend until smooth. This is a soup that benefits from being really smooth, so don't hold back! If you think the soup is too thick, just add water, and obviously taste to adjust seasonings like salt (I definitely had to add salt, but not very much).

Then, scoop the soup into bowls and garnish with parsley or whatever else you like!

So very tasty ... I had two bowls

Be sure to let me know whether you try this recipe and what modifications you make, if any. Here's to eating well in 2013!