Two Soups Created to Fill a Need

By Billa

Every once in a while I buy a bunch of celery because a recipe calls for one or two stalks. I used to hate doing so because I don’t particularly like celery unless it’s a small part of a recipe. So, that meant that I would invariably end up throwing away most of the bunch.

I tried making celery soup from recipes I found online, but was unhappy with the results. They either used too little celery or, if they used a lot, the soup ended up tasting too much like celery and nothing else. So, I decided to experiment and create my own celery soup.

I ended up with a recipe that uses up a whole bunch of celery (minus one or two stalks), but has a more nuanced flavor.

Billa’s Celery Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 bunch celery (around 8-10 stalks), in small dice

2 carrots, diced

1 pear, diced

3 cups vegetable broth

Salt and ground pepper, to taste

4 tablespoons crispy onions, for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add onion and sauté until it starts to brown.

2. Stir in tomato paste, celery, carrots, and pear. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir in the broth. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve topped with a tablespoon of crispy onions, if desired.

Unlike celery, cabbage is a vegetable that I love in many forms, especially soup. My favorite recipe used to be one that combined sweet and sour tastes, the sweet part due to brown sugar. Because I am trying to reduce how much sugar I consume, I created a sweet and sour version without using sugar. Instead, raisins, apples, and carrots provide the sweetness.

Billa’s Cabbage Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup carrots, thinly sliced

28-oz can diced or crushed tomatoes

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 cup unsweetened catsup or 8-oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 small head of cabbage, outer leaves and core removed, quartered, then sliced in thin ribbons

2 sweet apples (I usually use Gala or Fuji), peeled and diced

3/4 cup raisins

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add onion and sauté, over a medium-low flame, until glossy. Add 1 and 1/2 cups water, carrots, tomatoes, tomato paste, and catsup or tomato sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Add 3 cups water, lemon juice, cabbage ribbons, and apples. Simmer over a low flame for 1 hour. About 15 minutes before the hour is up, add the raisins.

3. Stir in salt and pepper and serve.