There isn’t a vegetable that I don’t eat, but I’ll admit that celery isn’t exactly one of my favourites. We were at our farmers’ market and I came across the largest celery stock I have ever seen and it was being sold at the exorbitant price of $1 just begging to be purchased. My husband is a huge celery fan. He takes either carrot or celery sticks to work every day (boring). Even so, he would need three weeks to go through all that celery.
When all else fails, I always turn to soup. My husband tells people that there isn’t a vegetable that I haven’t turned into a soup. The challenge in this case was to give the celery a boost without compromising it entirely. Not an easy task.
Most people dismiss the taste of celery, but it exists and when cooked, it is not subtle at all. This is one of those recipes that just came together in my head and I knew that in spite of the celery as a main, I would like it and I did. The apple stands up to the celery without competing with it and adds that perfect touch of sweetness. There aren’t very many vegetables that can handle two whole sprigs of rosemary, but in spite of the amount of rosemary used, it is not a rosemary celery soup. In fact, I had to keep adding rosemary to ensure subtle hints appeared in every spoonful. As for the Dijon, it’s the first time I have ever used mustard in a soup and though unconventional, it just works. In short, it’s celery a little mellow (and a little enhanced) from the apple, rosemary, and mustard, but still always that ever-familiar celery.
It’s not often that celery gets to shine; it normally plays the supporting role. However, this soup proves that it can definitely hold its own with a little help. It goes beautifully with a deep, dark, hefty molasses bread. Whether you are a celery lover or not (like me), albeit unconventional, it is a fitting autumn soup.
This is a quick, inexpensive and easy weeknight meal.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
| Oil, Olive | 4 tbsp |
| Onion, small, chopped | 2 |
| Garlic, cloves, crushed | 2 large (or 4 small) |
| Celery, stalks & leaves, roughly choppeds | 1 lb |
| Apples, Empire, small, grated | 2 |
| Mustard, Dijon | 1 tsp |
| Salt | |
| Black pepper | |
| Rosemary, fresh, chopped | 2 sprigs |
| Broth, vegetable | 4 cups |
Directions:
- Using a vegetable peeler, remove the celery strings from each celery rib before roughly chopping.
- Heat the oil in a medium pot and gently fry the onions for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add celery and celery leaves and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the apples, Dijon, salt, black pepper, rosemary, and vegetable broth and simmer for 10 minutes until the celery is cooked through.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Using a hand blender thoroughly puree the soup to an extremely smooth consistency.
- Return the pot to the stove over medium heat until heated through.
- Serve with a couple thick slices of thick molasses bread.
Delectably Insatiable 