This soup is light, easy, healthy, and tasty. A perfect combo. for cooking success in my opinion! From start to finish, it takes only about 35 minutes… that I can do. And with minimal ingredients such as potatoes, onion, garlic, and celery, it’s nutritious, too. No cream needed- just herbs, veggies, and seasonings. This is a perfect example of less is more…
Despite it’s simplicity, this soup is rather strong in flavor. The tarragon adds a nice sweetness while the celery salt gives it a savory flare. If you don’t have celery salt, no worries- just use regular salt but lessen it by half- you can always add more later, but can’t take it out once it’s in! So I always like to start off light and then add as I go 🙂
This soup stores very well so you can refrigerate or freeze any leftovers for a later use. So it’s a great thing to make extra of and then have for a hungry emergency later in the week!!
INGREDIENTS
2 heads of celery- about 15-20 stalks (leaves are fine to use)
1 yellow onion
3 red potatoes, medium-sized (or other variety)
3 medium garlic cloves
1 tbsp reduced-sodium chicken bouillon (update: chicken broth is a healthier choice, in place of water and bouillon)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/8 tsp celery salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
1 cup water
1 tbsp ghee or butter
1 tbsp olive oil
*extra celery salt and freshly ground black pepper, to finish off (about 1/8 tsp each)
*celery leaves for garnish
I keep a jar of this stuff in the fridge to have on hand when I don’t have a good chicken broth or stock lying around… it tastes great and makes it easy to control the intensity of flavoring while cooking. I prefer low-sodium so I can add salt as I choose (I like having the control in my cooking).
DIRECTIONS
Clean and chop off end of celery heads
Roughly chop stalks into pieces- no need to to spend
much time cutting- they’re going to get blended later
Then roughly chop potatoes, onion, and garlic
Heat butter and oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat
Toss in veggies
Add salt, pepper, tarragon, celery salt, and bouillon
Stir, cover, and let cook for about 15 minutes (covering it will help steam/cook the veggies faster)
After 15 minutes, remove lid, stir, and then add 1 cup of water and bay leaf
Cover again and let cook for 20 minutes more- still on medium heat
Veggies should be nice and soft by now
Remove bay leaf- VERY IMPORTANT! No one wants ground bay leaf pieces 🙂
If you have an immersion blender, it works perfectly here! If not, just blend soup in batched in a large blender until smooth and creamy
When smooth and creamy, taste and adjust seasonings accordingly- I added 1/8 tsp celery salt
and about 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
Then blend a wee more until well mixed and ready to be eaten!
Serve in bowls…
And top with a little celery garnish!
That’s it… enjoy!!
