Pureed Cauliflower and Root Vegetable Soup

This is a combination of a variety of soup recipes I found online that all used celery root--my new favorite vegetable. Perfect for a winter day.

• Ready In: 1 hr 50 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1  purple onion
• 1  tablespoon butter
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 2  garlic cloves
• 1  celeriac, bulb (celery root)
• 1  head cauliflower
• 1  garnet yam
• 2  yukon gold potatoes
• 5  carrots
• 3  cups  chicken stock or 3  cups  vegetable stock
• 1  cup water
• 1  bay leaf
• 1  teaspoon black pepper
• 1  teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a soup pot, add diced onion to butter and olive oil. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add minced garlic cloves and heat an additional minute.
3. Add the root vegetables, peeled and cubed, to the soup pot. Cover and heat on medium for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Heat stock and water to boiling. Add to soup pot with the bay leaf, black pepper, and salt.
5. Cover pot and simmer on medium low for 1.5 hours (or until a fork easily pierces the vegetables).
6. Remove bay leaf. Using a blender or immersion hand blender, puree soup mix.
7. Alternative: My son prefers this soup in an non-pureed form. In that version, I cube the vegetables much smaller (about 1/2" cubes vs. the roughly 1 1/2" cubes I use for the pureed version). I reduce the cooking time to about 45 minutes, and add cooked egg noodles at the end for a brothy noodle soup. I also sometimes add small meatballs made out of ground turkey.
8. For Vegetarian or Vegan use Vegetable broth.