Vegan Locavore White Soup

OK, so it's not exactly white...

It's hard to be a "locavore" in New England in late winter/early spring. For the past two winters, I subscribed to the Dogma box from Boston Organics to force myself to cook more locally grown produce. Even with the biweekly deliveries of sunchokes, apples, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, carrots, celery root, and squash, I have found myself frustrated by my lack of expertise with these hearty cold storage crops. If nothing else, this delivery forces me to try my hand at new recipes. This one was inspired by Tal Ronnen's Celery Root Soup. I only had 1 small-medium celery root and I happened to have a ton of parsnips, so I got creative. The result was a yummy blended "White Soup" full of cleansing ingredients! Until your farmers market opens, you should still be able to find these local ingredients in the Northeast! I hope you'll give them a try if you've never prepared them!

Ingredient Line-Up

Celery Root, Peeled and Chopped

Ingredients:
1 celery root, peeled
1 leek, white & light green parts
2 stalks celery, cleaned
4-6 parsnips, scrubbed
1 qt low sodium vegetable broth
1 c cashew cream (optional, click here for recipe)
1 apple (granny smith preferred. I only had golden delicious on hand. Any apple will do!)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Slice and rinse the leek well under cold running water (leeks can be rather sandy, so I like to slice lengthwise, then chop into semicircles, then wash). In a large pot, heat 2 tb of olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and celery and a dash of salt and some black pepper and saute, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until soft and translucent. While the leeks are cooking, peel the celery root with a pairing knife and chop into small chunks. Scrub the parsnips, chop into small chunks.

Scrubbed and Chopped Parsnips

Add the parsnips, celery root, and veggie broth to the pot. Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for roughly 20 minutes or until veggies are tender. Stir in the cashew cream, turn off heat, and blend until smooth, either with an immersion blender or working in batches in an upright blender.

Simmering Soup. The Smell of Nutrition!

Add peeled chopped apple for some crunch and a nice garnish. Top with a drizzle of your favorite fruity extra virgin olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper. ENJOY!

About the Dogma Box from Boston Organics:

The Local, or Dogma, Box is a $29 box that includes produce sourced as close to Boston as possible. This is our only box that includes produce restricted geographically! We source produce close to home and move further out until we can provide at least 8 unique items. NO LISTS are NOT allowed for this box. Check out the contents of this week's Local Box to see what to expect!

This post was shared on:
The Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania
Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesday

Rawbert's Organic Garden Cafe

I'm a savvy shopper. As such, I love Groupon, BuyWithMe, eversave, LivingSocial... you get the point. I love me a good deal! So when a deal for Rawbert's Organic Garden Cafe in Beverly landed in my inbox months ago, I didn't hesitate! Sure it was a little far from home, but it's nice to explore the burbs every now and again and doing so for some raw food... well... that's as good a reason as any! The voucher was for $50 (I paid $25), so James and I tried convincing friends to come try a raw restaurant with us. No luck, so we made a date of it and ordered a lot of food!

White Peony Tea and a Cup of the Soup D'Jour, a Yummy Carrot Bisque made with Almond Cream. 

OG Sliders: Portobello burgers topped with tomato, sprouts, & red onion on sunflower flax onion rye "bread" with cashew cheese. YUM!

My Dinner: "Pepperoni" Half Pizza ("Pepperoni" made from sun-dried tomatoes was tasty!)

James' Dinner: "Grilled" Zucchini Reuben (it satisfied his craving for a Reuben and I devoured the kale chips!)

Lemon Meringue Pie (Before)

Dairy-Free, Wheat-Free, Sugar-Free and Guilt-free! Our sinfully delicious desserts are sweetened with dried-fruit like dates, figs, apricots, and raisins or agave nectar. We use no refined flour, but flavorful ground nuts, seeds, coconut or fruit.

I don't know about you, but that statement from Rawberts' website sounds like permission to clean the plate to me!

Lemon Meringue Pie (After)