Celery Root - in any soup, in this case it's Borscht

In my effort to work my way thru the vegetable section of the Whole Foods, I seem to have gotten stuck in the root section. Indeed they are intriguing in their diversity of colors and shapes. The celery root is down right ugly. And, truly I'm not really impressed Witt the breadth of cooking options. The food people on the web say its good in soups. Sounds boring. But it's not! It adds that extra "Je ne se quoi" that makes it seem like you know something about cooking! Throw it in your veggie soups or your bean concoctions...and as below, it turns Borscht into something to write home about: without the meat or the sour cream.


Ingredients

3 beets, peeled and diced

1/3 to 1/2 of a celery root, peeled and diced

3 stalks of celery

1/2 red cabbage, shredded

1 white onion, diced

1 garlic, minced

1 carton of vegetable broth

1 can of beans (I like Kidney, but I doubt it makes a difference)



Directions

1. Add 1 cup of broth to a soup pot

2. Throw in the onion and garlic and water sautée for five minutes or so

3. Add the celery root and stalk, the beets and cabbage and the rest of the broth, bay leaf optional

4. Heat for 20 to 30 minutes on medium heat

5. Add in the beans and heat another five to ten minutes

Optional: many recipes add lemon or rice  vinegar to serve.  I usually love this. But I swear the addition of the celery root makes this unnecessary. It keeps well and makes about ten servings.