Vegan Cream of Celery Soup

Koumatos's Note:

During winter I often think wistfully of cream soups and the days before I gave up dairy. I adjusted my old recipe to try and recreate the flavor without the milk products. It's easy to adjust, so play with it and tell me what you think.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-6

Yield: 1.0 big pot ...

• 3 cups celery, chopped small
• 1 celery root, peeled and chopped (optional, but recommended)
• 3 -4 red potatoes, chopped small
• 1 leek, chopped small (optional)
• 5 cups water
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 -2 cup mushroom, diced (optional)
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced (optional)
• 2 -3 tablespoons soy margarine
• 2 -3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 -3 tablespoons flour
• 1 bunch fresh dill (or other complimentary herb of your liking)
• 5 cups soymilk (approximately)
• 1 (8 ounce) can vegetable stock (optional)
• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 1/2 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon Greek oregano
• salt and black pepper

Directions:

1. In a small soup pot, put the water on to boil (just enough to hold your veggies). As soon as your water begins to boil, add the celery and other vegetables. Return to a boil and then lower the heat to a medium simmer until the veggies are cooked soft. Then drain, but keep the water. Give the drained veggies a few good mashes to help thicken the soup.
2. While the vegetables are boiling, melt the margarine in a large soup pot. Saute the onions on med-high heat. Once they are soft, add the mushrooms and the garlic. Saute until the mushrooms release their liquid.
3. Add the oil to your onion-mushroom mixture (as needed). Slowly build a rue around the onion-mushroom mixture by adding sifted flour slowly. As it thickens, add the water from the boiled celery mixture a ladle at a time, and then thicken some more. Continue until you have a thick enough rue for your liking and you are ready to add the soy milk.
4. Add in about half of the soymilk, whisking to distribute the thick saute mixture. When you have enough liquid, add the cooked celery and potatoes. Continue adding celery water and then milk, balancing it out to your tastes.
5. Once you have the thickness and amount of soup you want, season your soup. I added garlic salt, white pepper, salt, black pepper and a small bit of Greek oregano. Add the spices slowly, mixing and tasting until the soup is balanced well.
6. Let the soup sit at a small simmer for about 15 minutes to combine. Serve with rustic bread.

Reviews

[truckydoodle]

One of the most tasty soups so far. I made it exactly as prescribed except I just used regular margarine instead of soy margarine. You won't be disappointed.

[A Good Thing]

Wow! What a delight this soup was... I just moaned my way through my bowl, wishing the entire time I had not cut the recipe back. I WILL make this again. The only thing I did not add was the celery root and the leek. Otherwise, made to specification and I topped with a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning and fresh ground black pepper. YUMMO!!! Thanks so much for posting this. Made for Pick A Chef, 2010.

[Sydney Mike]

First off, let me say that you have one of the tastiest celery soups that has ever been on my table! Second, it probably took me longer than the 30 minutes to decide just how to put it all together! Since there 4 optionals, let me say that I included the leek, the garlic & some homemade vegetable stock, but I did leave out the mushrooms (personal preference, only)! And, I seasoned it with lemon pepper rather than using the ol' S&P! Two of us managed to consume half of what I made, & the rest went into another recipe that called for this very ingredient! All that, just to let you know how much we enjoyed your soup, & I'm keeping this recipe around for future use! Many thanks for sharing it! [Made & reviewed for one of my adotees in the current Pick A Chef event]