BACK TO OUR ROOTS

Growing up, I heard my German grandmother singing the praises of an odd vegetable she called CELERIAC, or Celery Root. I would love to know how she used it then, probably grated in salad or roasted with other root vegetables. Turns out, it's the gnarled, starchy, bulbous root of the celery plant, loaded with a lot of the same minerals and phytonutrients that other root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and turnips boast. Just as a lot of the colorful fruits and vegetables are great sources of anti-oxidants that help fight degenerative diseases, even the WHITE VEGETABLES provide decent amounts

of ANTHOXANTHINS which may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure as well as fight some types of tumors. In this month's recipe, CREAMY CELERY ROOT SOUP, I'm including a few other white vegetables - some in the ALLIUM(onion) FAMILY and some in the CRUCIFEROUS (cabbage)FAMILY, both of which contain sulphur compounds (think strong smells!) which enhance the immune system, detoxify carcinogen exposure, repair DNA and protect against cancer.

I've grown to love celery root for its bright fresh taste in a raw salad and for its earthy, almost sweet flavor when roasted or slow cooked in a soup. Think of this recipe as a multi-dimensional version of a potato/leek type soup - still richly satisfying on chilly Fall days and bringing even more deeply stored nutrients to the table.

CREAMY CELERY ROOT SOUP makes 8 servings

2 T. butter or coconut oil

1 large white onion, minced fine

2 cloves garlic, minced fine

2 stalks celery, diced fine (save any celery leaves to chop for garnish)

2 parsnips, peeled, diced

2 small white turnips, diced

2 medium white potatoes, peeled, diced

1/4 cauliflower, broken into small florets

1/2" ginger root, peeled and minced

1 large celery root, cleaned, peeled and diced

1 large honey crisp apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1/4 tsp. celery seeds

1 tsp. sea salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

water or stock to cover vegetables (about 10 cups)

a few drops of lemon juice

a few drops olive oil

In a large soup pot, melt butter or oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another few minutes. Be careful not to let garlic get brown. Add celery and sauté for 5 minutes or so until getting soft and slowly releasing liquid. Add parsnip, turnip, potato, cauliflower, celery root and apple. Toss in pot until coated with juices, stirring for a few minutes. Add celery seeds, a little salt and a little pepper and sauté for a few more minutes. This will glaze and caramelize the vegetables to bring out their flavors before adding the stock.

Add enough water or stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a low boil. As soon as boil is reached, reduce soup to lowest simmer. Simmer until root veggies are soft enough to mash with a fork.

Add more stock if necessary. Check salt.

Remove pot from heat. Using an immersion blender, begin to purée the soup. Continue to purée until uniformly smooth. Check for seasonings. Use a few drops of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and/or pepper to enhance/adjust flavors. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with a drizzle of good olive oil and chopped celery leaves.

I and my colleagues at Bauman College featured this recipe at a recent event in Berkeley SPICE OF LIFE. On stage with some very fun guys of KITCHEN ON FIRE pictured here in a few photos we managed to take even though it was raining and chefs were everywhere! I am using an immersion blender in the pot, but they had a bicycle powered blender set up which made the whole demo, well, Fellini-esque!. My kind of day. The few hardcore attendees LOVED the soup and were happy to learn an EASY, EVERYDAY use for CELERIAC. Enjoy!