Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Celery Soup


I had a wonderful day with my dad this Father's Day and after we kicked back to relax for a bit, we got into a conversation about healthy eating and juicing and all kinds of good stuff I could have talked about for hours. So he tells me he was dining out and had this celery soup the other week that was to die for.

He went back home and attempted to duplicate the soup he had eaten at the restaurant but said it was not exactly what he was looking for. So we tried to think of what could have been missing in his soup and I think he was missing the addition of the potato. It sounded pretty good and I kept thinking of all of this celery I had in my own fridge. You see where this is going, right?

I am not a big fan of pureed soups. Well, at least I did not think I was. I am a beans, meat and potato soup type of gal. But, I made this soup for tonight's starter and it was a home run.

Celery Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 finely chopped small yellow onion
1 garlic clove, minced
6-8 stalks celery
1 small Russet potato
3-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 tbsp hemp milk (or substitute half and half or heavy cream)
Salt and pepper, to taste


Optional:
2 tbsp Greek yogurt
1 tsp minced tarragon (or substitute thyme)

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute 2 minutes. Add celery, potato and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes.

Remove soup from stove top and place in blender. Puree until smooth.  Pour soup through a sieve, using the back of a ladle to extract as much of the liquid as possible. Return puree to pot. Stir in milk and seasonings.

In a small bowl, mix Greek yogurt and fresh tarragon (or thyme) in small bowl. Drizzle each serving with yogurt sauce. Or drizzle soup with olive oil. Serve hot.

All photographs are actual pictures of the recipe listed, prepared by Sweet Treats 'n Good Eats, and cannot be used without the owner’s consent.