Celery soup?  You betcha!  I bought a bunch of celery a couple of weeks ago for a recipe that called for two stalks.  It’s a food dilemma for me and figuring out what to do with the remainder stalks usually ends up in the compost box.  Around lunch time I pondered what to make for tonight’s dinner.  The vegetable crisper looked a bit bare with a lone carrot, sunchoke, and leek; all were on their last legs.  Celery is abundant in vitamins, helps lower inflammation, protects the liver and more.  The thing is, I can only stomach eating one stalk at a time so what was I to do with eight?

It’s a bit chilly here today and the snow has started to fall.  The lovely sun has disappeared leaving the afternoon grey; a bowl of soup seems to be in order.  Celery is related to carrots so it is fitting to use the lone carrot in the crisper.  I added rice to the soup for a meatier base and the sunchoke gave a nutty flavour hint to the soup.  Celery pairs well with any root vegetable so use what’s on hand.

Serves 2
4 or 5 celery stalks, washed and chopped (2 cups)
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 sunchoke, scrubbed and roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup jasmine rice
2 teaspoons dried tarragon leaves
blue cheese or others such as Parmesan, feta, goat

In a large pot over medium heat add a splash of olive oil. Add chopped leeks and cook until slightly soft. Add celery, sunchoke, carrot – stir until combined and cook for 5 minutes. Add rice and tarragon. Stir and let cook 2 minutes then add broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until rice is cooked.  Use a hand blender and purée.  When ready to serve, crumble blue cheese over top followed by a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

The Culinary Chase’s Note:  Add more, if needed, olive oil to keep the veggies from drying out before adding broth.  If you want a thinner soup, either add more broth or reduce rice.  Enjoy!