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Here for the Vegan Cookbook Giveaway? Head on down the bottom of this post.
Hello, friends! Welcome to my table. I’m happy to be joining the Virtual Vegan Potluck for the second time today, and I hope you’ll join me in visiting many of the other participating blogs! (If you’re making your way around the circle, click here to go forward to the tasty blog Cheerfully Vegan, or click here to go back to Cauldrons and Cupcakes, where I love living vicariously on Nicole’s Australian farm with the koalas, platypus, and wallabies–and there’s even a calf named after me!)
I’m serving soup today, and before you turn your nose up at a creamy celery soup, let me just talk to you about the roasted part of this roasted celery soup. It’s transformative. It’s sublime. It makes me revel in all the things that one humble vegetable can be. Celery is crisp and herbal when freshly sliced. It’s aromatic and powerful when dried. And when roasted, as it is here, celery becomes sweet and deeply flavorful, bringing an earthy umami element to this creamy soup. Aren’t vegetables amazing?
And speaking of vegetables’ versatility, this is an opportunity to practice your top-to-root-tip cooking. Save those leek and celery trimmings for free, organic, homemade vegetable broth. Dry the celery leaves and mix them with flaky salt for fancy homemade celery salt (wouldn’t that make an elegant but inexpensive hostess or holiday gift?). Save the fennel fronds for another recipe, or make them into pesto.
Roasted Celery Soup: Chop 1 bunch of celery and 1 bulb of fennel into 2″ pieces. Slice 1 large leek into 3/4″ rounds. Combine vegetables on a sheet pan with 4 unpeeled garlic cloves. Toss everything with a generous coating of olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. Roast at 400 for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until some of the vegetables are golden brown. Taste a caramelized piece of celery or fennel. Good, right? You might have to taste one more. That’s ok.
While the vegetables are roasting, simmer 8. oz waxy potatoes (I used fingerlings; you could also use Yukon golds) in 6 c. well-seasoned (maybe homemade?) vegetable broth until tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the potatoes to a blender and blend them, along with the roasted vegetables and a couple cups of broth, until smooth. Return everything to the pot with the remaining broth and simmer a few more minutes. Add more broth if the soup is thicker than you like. Optional: top with a drizzle of olive oil and/or a sprinkle of homemade celery salt.
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Vegan Cookbook Giveaway! I’m giving away a copy of one of these Post Punk Kitchen vegan cookbooks to one lucky Emmy Cooks reader! I like Veganomicon myself, but maybe you already have it? It’s your choice. Here’s the scoop:
- To enter, just leave a comment on this post. Maybe tell me about your favorite vegan recipe (and feel free to leave a link!). Or tell me your favorite vegan cookbook. Any comment, and you’ll be entered to win. You may also enter up to three additional times if you follow Emmy Cooks on (1) Facebook or (2) Twitter or (3) if you sign up to receive daily updates from Emmy Cooks via email or your own RSS reader. Just leave a separate comment below for each entry (up to 4 total per person).
- Comments made before 11:59 p.m. (Seattle time) on Monday, Nov. 5 will be counted as entries. The winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The winner will have 48 hours to claim her/his prize by selecting a book and providing a mailing address; otherwise another winner will be chosen.
- Giveaway is open to US residents ages 18 and up.
Update 11/6/12: And the winner (chosen by random.org) is Lolly, of the vegan blog Living in a Lolly-Pop World. Congratulations, Lolly!
Emmy Cooks 
Love Veganomican! Good vegan cookbooks can be hard to find.
I love celery and think it really gets a bad rap. This soup sounds awesome (especially for this weather!)
I was wondering what you would pick for the potluck – wow, elegant!
Ooh…what a fantastic way to use up a bunch of celery! I might try this with celery root instead of potatoes, for even more celery flavor.
Also, I’ve been so tempted to buy Veganomicon for months, even though I’m not vegan. I blame my boyfriend for reading Cryptonomicon and making me finally get the reference.
I like celery, but I’ll admit, I’ve never roasted it. This seems like a good reason to try it, and with the fall weather, creamy soup would really hit the spot. Yum!
I follow you on facebook, too!
You’ve totally outdone yourself Emmy! What an incredible soup, of course I’ve never roasted celery, but I love it in all its other forms!
My favorite vegan recipes right now involve vegan cheez, but you all ready knew that ;)
I follow you on facebook!
I subscribe to your posts via rss reader!
Emmy, there is so much I like about you. I love that you write so often about techniques for using the whole vegetable. I have never thought about roasting celery. To be honest, celery has never inspired me much. But, you can sure I’m going to try it.
I would never have thought to roast the celery first either. I have a bunch just calling out for me to soup it! Thank you :)
PS Emmy Calf is growing well and doing fine xx
Just recently found your site and eager to try some recipes. This soup sounds marvelous!
Emmy this looks so amazing!! Never had ths kind of soup before…adding it to do this fall! Glad to find your bog and see all the VVP posts! Looks so wonderful.
I love roasting vegetables, but don’t believe I’ve ever tried roasted celery before. Interesting!
Potatoes in the blender are risky as they may turn to glue. Is it the blending with the veggies at the same time that prevents this?
Roasted celery sounds very nice, I’m a late convert to celery but I love it now. This looks great!
What great flavors for this soup recipe!
As to your cookbook give away, I too love Veganomicon and used the technique they have for peeling chestnuts in my Roasted Brussles Sprouts with Chestnuts recipe: http://wp.me/p1GQWj-Xp
Hope you enjoy it!
I love celery but I’ve never tried it cooked or in a soup. The ingredients all sound lovely and healthy I’m thinking it won’t be too long before I’ve eaten this :D especially in this horrible cold weather!
I’ve never thought to roast celery. I’m sure it’s delicious. Thanks so much for the tip.
Wish I had saw this before using up the very last of my CSA bounty for the year – celery which I sauteed in olive oil, with garlic and fennel. Your recipe sounds better! I love veganomicon, but its the only vegan cookbook I’m familiar with ( it is very dog eared from over use). Would love to have another. I enjoy your posts very much!
ok we have to cook together one of these days. I totally adore these cookbooks, have worn them to a stained and splattered nubbin! fortunately you have one on the list that I do not have!!
Sounds delicious! Roasted celery, here I come!
Hey Emmy! I do love me some celery but for some reason haven’t tried soup – – must get that on my meal list! Thank you so much for participating again this time around!
I love Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I always get good results every time I use it.
Just making my way through the VVP & wanted to say hey :-)
Liked you on Facebook!
Following your blog now! Love it!
Your soup looks AMAZING! I’ve never tried a soup that requires blending, but this time of year, soup just calls my name and is so comforting!
I recently tried the vegan nutella recipe in Veganomicon and it was AMAZING. Isa and Terry are geniuses.
I follow your on facebook. (I’m kelly.garbato.)
I also follow you on twitter (@vegandaemon)
Celery is one of the world’s great underrated vegetables, isn’t it? I LOVE it, personally, so this soup sound just about perfect. :) As for vegan recipes–an awful lot of what I make is accidentally vegan. Israeli couscous-chickpea-vegetable melange is pretty high on the chart, as are lentils vinaigrette. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
Oooh cookbook! I would love to add another one to my collection.
Yum! It’s soup season and I love it! My favorite vegan recipe is a southwestern quinoa: http://lifeonthevedge.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/southwestern-quinoa-vegetarian-and-gluten-free/
I love sharing my favorite vegan blogs with students of mine who are vegan-curious!
I’ve liked emmycooks on FB
I’ve followed emmycooks on twitter
Emmycooks in in my RSS feed
I love the Happy Herbivore cookbooks. Fast, easy, healthy and delicious recipes!
I follow EmmyCooks in Google Reader.
I am partial to Veganomicon, but I also believe that it is impossible to have too many cookbooks!
I like EmmyCooks on Facebook!
I clicked the button to subscribe but nothing popped up….. (pop-up blocker is turned off) will try again!
I’ve never had a soup before where celery was the main player. It looks amazing!
To answer your question, YES, vegetables are amazing. This looks so good!
Celery AND fennel? Count me in!
I love the idea of top to root cooking! You hear a lot about snout to tail, which just sounds icky to me so thank you for the ideas on how to make the best use of an entire vegetable.
I personally love Chloe’s Kitchen. I have made so many recipes from that book and every single one had come out fantastic.
What a stunning soup Emmy! I am SO making this..I love celery and I am certain roasted is divine! I’ll report back..XO
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VVP and a giveaway?! You’ve outdone yourself! : ) Also that soup sounds great. (And I don’t often use the word “great” when the main ingredients include celery…) I don’t have a favorite vegan cookbook… yet, but I’d love to win one so it can be my new favorite!
I also follow you on Facebook…
… and I get your e-mail updates via RSS.
Looks delicious! I have to get in on this potluck thing :-)
I love celery, although I’ve never roasted it, but I also love the idea of giving celery salt as a holiday gift. We’ve been looking for rock salt grinders to put it in, but so far, no luck.
Regardless, this looks great, thanks so much!
Oh, and I liked you on Facebook. . .
and I’m following you on Twitter,
I must be a total cookbook geek, because I have all of those books except Vegan Pie In The Sky… Love the celery soup. Any roasted veggie is a winner to me :-)
The Candle Cafe and Candle 79 cookbooks are my favorites!
That soup looks yummy!
I have so many favorite vegan cookbooks, it’s hard to choose! Love Isa’s Appetite for Reduction and Amber’s Practically Raw. But then there’s Veganomicon, and Mimi Kirk, and Annie Phyo, and…
I don’t own Veganomicon, but one of my favorite recipes is from that cookbook. It’s a lentil salad. In addition to being delicious, it helped me discover that I like radishes (I hated them as a child, and then stopped eating them until a couple years ago when someone made this salad).
dont look half bad for celery (have an irrational fear of it) i make myself use it!
Love the transformation of celery. I didn’t know and I’m so glad you made me wise! This really sounds wonderful – and I’ve even got some fennel in the garden, Thanks so much for sharing this!
Any of the beans recipes are good to go for me. I hope I’m not late for the deadline!
I already liked you on FB.
I receive your daily e-mails and have tried most of the recipes – they are all good and sooo easy to follow! Thank you, Emmy Cooks, for making my life healthier!
I followed you on Twitter ( I will actually follow your blog with any gadget I have if possible LOL )
I am so happy to have won! YAY! Thanks so much, Emmy! I responded to your email with my address, etc.
~Lolly :)
Thanks, Lolly! I’ll get the book in the mail!
I’m a fan of roasted eggplant