Till recently, I did not know much about celery. Of course, I’ve heard the name and had a vague idea of what it looked like. But it is not one of the vegetables that was available either in India or the Far East when I was growing up. And, therefore, I did not have any memories or tastes associated with this wonderful herb. But as the world grows smaller, produce from all over the world are now available at your doorstep. Even then, I had avoided this vegetable as I tried hard to follow the principle of “Eat Local, Eat Seasonal”. But I must admit that, sometimes, curiosity gets the better of me and I try some of the vegetables and herbs that are normally outside my ken. That’s how celery entered my kitchen. I must frankly admit that my initial reaction was one of distaste due to its strong aroma. So, rather than in a salad, I decided to try it out in a soup. The fact that I am penning this post will give you an idea of what I thought of the outcome. The inspiration for the soup came from Veganosity.

Ingredients
1 head of celery – cut the head off and chop the stalks into 1″ pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 cups plant based milk
3 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup basil leaves
1 tsp celery leaves
1/2 tsp pepper powder
Salt to taste
Method
Steam the celery stalks for about 10 minutes or till soft
Heat a saucepan and add the onion
Sprinkle a little water and sauté the onion
Once the onion is translucent, remove from the saucepan and set aside
Now add to the a blender the milk, celery stalks, onion, basil, celery leaves, lemon juice, salt and pepper powder
Blend till smooth and creamy
Pour the soup into the pan and heat to desired temperature
Enjoy!