Creamy Celeriac & Kale Soup with Buttery Mushrooms & Sugar Snap Peas | gf

A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me that she always thought of me as a "soup expert", and that one of the things I primarily share here on Cashew Kitchen is awesome soup recipes. And I was like "what??? I have like ONE, or maybe TWO, recipes for soup from the entire blog archive". Then I took a proper look and realized there were actually quite a few... Many of them from this year. And here I am, blogging about soup again.But it's like the ultimate vegetarian comfort food, right!? After Indian/Thai curries, that is.This particular soup is of the mild, yet rich, and wonderfully creamy kind. Everything melts together into a buttery and comforting mess of earthy flavors. A hint of tanginess from the sour cream, and plenty of umami richness from mushrooms and celeriac. The kale provides a pretty color and lots of that leafy green goodness (I try to add in a little extra magnesium to my everyday diet, to help relax those stiff winter muscles).I like to grind plenty of black pepper on top of my bowl to give it a little edge. A sprinkle of cayenne pepper would probably also do the trick!The celeriac is so creamy in itself that you can easily omit the sour cream for a vegan version. You could also replace the sour cream with a plant based cream.All in all, this is a crowd pleasing recipe that I can guarantee will leave everybody happy, a little sleepy and comfortably patting their bellies :-)

Soup toppings

Ok, we have to talk about soup toppings before skipping ahead to the recipe. For a long time, I had like three different soups on rotation: carrot soup, tomato soup and Asian noodle soup. And the only thing I could think of serving them with was bread and a dollop of yoghurt (ok perhaps not the noodle soup).Nowadays, brainstorming toppings is when I get to be the most creative. I put a lot of emphasis on the toppings partly because I wanna pack the meal with more nutrients than what fits into, say, a simple root vegetable soup. But mostly because it is an opportunity to really play around with textures and flavor combinations.It's not uncommon that I garnish my soup with whatever random leftovers I can find in the fridge. Cooked quinoa, stir-fries, eggs, crunchy greens. But sometimes I get a little more intentional.

Here's a basic guide to creating interesting and flavorful soup toppings. You will need:

1. Something substantial, like grains, legumes, sautéed vegetables or caramelized cabbage.

2. Something crunchy, like toasted seeds, nuts or stir-fried chickpeas. Preferably with some kind of umami rich spice, like tamari soy, cumin or paprika.

3. Something creamy, like coconut milk, yoghurt or sour cream. Especially if the soup is kinda spicy and in need of something mild to balance it up.

4. Something herby. Like herbs.

If you're craving more soup (and topping!) inspo, I (apparently) have a couple recipes up my sleeve:

Tomato Soup with Smokey Chickpeas & HerbsCarrot Soup with Lime & GingerRoasted Parsnip & Butter Bean Soup with Walnut Pesto & Caramelized Cabbage Rosemary Roasted Carrot Soup with Tamari Nuts & SeedsAdapted from Arla's recipe of celeriac, kale & blue cheese soup.

Creamy Celeriac & Kale Soup with Buttery Mushrooms & Sugar Snap Peas

serves 4-6500g celeriac1 yellow onionbutter or rapseed oil250g kale3 tbsp mushroom stock2 dl / 2/3 cup + 1 tbsp sour cream (a vegan kind works perfectly fine)around 1 litre / 1 quart watersalt & pepper8-10 mushrooms of choicetwo handfuls of sugar snap peas1 garlic clovebutter or rapseed oilsalt & pepperto servefresh thymedrizzle of sour cream or yoghurtbread of choiceDirectionsCut off the rough, outer parts of the celeriac and dice the flesh. Chop the onion finely.Heat up a little butter or rapseed oil in a large skillet. Sauté the celeriac and onion with a sprinkle of salt for a couple of minutes until the onion has softened. Transfer to a large sauce pan.Add water and mushroom stock to the sauce pan and bring to boiling. Lower heat and let the celeriac simmer for around 5-7 minutes.Rinse the kale and tear the leaves from the stem (then discard the stem). Add the leaves to the pot and let simmer for 3 more minutes.Add the sour cream and mix the soup with a hand held mixer until creamy. Season to taste with salt & pepper.For the topping, roughly chop mushrooms and mince the garlic. Heat up butter or rapseed oil in a skillet and sauté the mushrooms, sugar snap peas and garlic until tender (but still crispy) and a little browned. Season to taste with salt & pepper.Serve the hot soup with the sautéed mushrooms & sugar snap peas on top, along with a good drizzle of yoghurt or sour cream, plenty of black pepper & fresh thyme. And possibly some bread, if you like. Enjoy!xxAgnesAll photographs, recipes and content are Cashew Kitchen originals, unless otherwise indicated. Feel free to go wild on pinning, but always link back here and credit Cashew Kitchen when sharing. Thanks!