Creamy Celary Soup without Cream

The great about celery is that it is two vegetables and one spice all in one.

The large familiar swollen stems are actually greatly enlarged leaf stalks and make up most of the plant visible above the soil. The celery we know and love was selectively bred in 14th century Italy from the wild plant that is “rank, coarse, and…poisonous” according to the celery expert Theophilus Roessle. It is these stalks that join onions and carrots to produce the trinity of stock vegetables – indeed it is for stock, or for salads, that celery is commonly used, but it does make a great vegetable on its own. It was very popular to serve celery sauces with poultry, or served covered in a cream sauce with pheasant.
If allowed to flower, the seeds produce a spice which was used to make celery vinegar, a popular condiment in the 18th century. It is also the part of the plant that is used to make celery salt, an ingredient in a classic Bloody Mary cocktail. To make it, just grind up some celery seeds and mix with double the amount of good quality sea salt.
It might surprise you to know that celery is a member of the carrot family, but if you look beneath the soil surface you will find a large swollen root, though it doesn’t look very much like a carrot; it is round, creamy and white and covered in small knobbly roots. This is celeriac, sometimes just called celery root. It goes really well with game and can be roasted like parsnips or pureed with some potatoes. Raw, it is an excellent ingredient in coleslaw.

Celery is believed to be originally from the Mediterranean basin. Ancient literature documents that celery, or a similar plant form, was cultivated for medicinal purposes before 850 B.C. It’s claimed medicinal purposes were probably attributable to it’s volatile oils, contained in all portions, but mostly the seed. During ancient times Ayurvedic physicians used celery seed to treat the following conditions: colds, flu, water retention, poor digestion, various types of arthritis, and liver and spleen ailments. Woven garlands of wild celery are reported to have been found in early Egyptian tombs.

Celery was considered a holy plant in the classical period of Greece .    

The Romans valued celery more for cooking than for religion although much superstition was connected with it. The celery plant was thought to bring bad fortune under certain circumstances.

The Italians domesticated celery as a vegetable in the 17th century resulting in selections with solid stems. Early stalk celery had a tendency to produce hollow stalks. After years of domestication, selection eliminated this characteristic as well as bitterness and strong flavors. Early growers found that the naturally strong flavors could be diminished if grown in cooler conditions and also if blanched. Blanching is the practice of pushing dirt up around the base of the stalks to prevent sunlight from turning the stalks green.

There are two types of stalk celery varieties, self-blanching or yellow, and green or Pascal celery. In North America green stalk celery is preferred and mainly eaten raw although it is also eaten cooked. In Europe and the rest of the world self-blanching varieties are preferred. Celeriac is very popular in Europe where it is eaten cooked or raw.

Health benefits of Celary...

The benefits that celery brings to your health are vast due to the fact that it contains high levels of antioxidants and enzymes. It’s also jam-packed with essential vitamins and minerals including folate, vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin K, and vitamin C.

If you eat celery on a regular basis, you’ll have a healthier heart and a happier life. Furthermore, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of celery also make it a great food for those who suffer from hypertension and excessively high levels of cholesterol in their bloodstream.

Celary fights infection, helps you in weight loss and tons of other benefits, just search and you will find all, so here I am not going to list all of them. Let's come to the soup recipe part.

This recipe for Simple Celery Soup is creamy and luscious ohhhhh so comforting! 

Here I’ve topped the soup with crispy celery leaves and toasted nigella seeds .The crispy celery leaves are a beautiful touch and are really simple to make too.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 fat garlic cloves, rough chopped
• 1 Celary stalk, sliced thin   save some leaves for garnish
• 2 Yukon potatoes, sliced into ½ inch thick rounds , unpeeled.
• 2 cups veggie stock, I made my own right here
• 1 cup water
• 1 bay leaf (optional, remove before blending)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, start conservatively, add more to taste or leave it out entirely.

Add:

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• ½ cup fresh parsley or cilantro (small stems ok)
• Stir in: ½ cup (or more) of sour cream, plain yogurt, vegan sour cream, heavy cream or cashew cream.
• Garnish: Crispy celery leaves, nigella seeds, Toasted White Sesame  seeds (all optional, but delicious!)

Method:

Heat a thick bottomed pot and add butter.

Immediately add chopped garlic.

Saute till fragrant, add diced onion. I also added 3 green peppers as I like my soup a lil hot and spicy!

Add thinly cut celary and saute.

(Here, I added cilantro stalk, coriander seeds 1 tbsp, salt, 5 black peppercorns and 2 cups water.

Cook till done, here I added baby spinach at the end to get greener color.

Cool and blend in a mixer jar or just use immersion blender, at this point, add cilantro leaves as it will impart rich green color.

Heat this in the pot again and adjust the soup consistency.

I did not use cream this time.

In a lil vegetable oil, fries celary leaves, toasted nigella seeds and sesame seeds and garnished .

Also used sour cream for garnishing, if you are not using sour cream, you can just add lemon juice.

Also, for more creamy alternative, if not using dairy, use cashew paste. 

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