Celery Apple Soup

While there are all sorts of folks out there whose gardens are put to bed nicely--expired plants dug up and composted, soils amended, and weeds pulled--my garden is a creepy scene. Plants are sagging, fruits are dropping, and bits of mold can be found here and there. All in all, there is a noticeable funk in the air. I am practicing extreme avoidance. On a daily basis, I tiptoe past the crime scene (frosts started happening last week) and move on past to where a few viable, fall-hardy edibles still exist. I WILL go out and work in the garden eventually. For now I'm wallowing in the funk as one season moves into the next. I think there is a time and place for everything, and right now my garden just gets to be how it is, warts and all.

Because I am clearly a lazy bum right now, I am not cooking complicated dishes. I want fast, healthy food that leaves me feeling better than when I started--part of that process is of course, how the food tastes (delicious) and the other is how it looks (bright and cheerful). What can I say, I'm a sucker for the aesthetic, at least when it doesn't come to my Fall garden.

Yes, there's a ladybug on the celery, but no, she didn't go into the pot

Celery Apple Soup
5 C celery (the more leaves the better), chopped
1/2 large white onion, chopped
2 large baking apples such as Cortland, Gravenstein or Macintosh if you can find them, peeled, cored & chopped
2 T coconut oil
1 can organic, unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk
4 T long-grain white rice
1 32-ounce box organic vegetable stock
1 tsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 T sea salt
juice of 1/2 lime

Heat oil over medium heat in large soup pot. Add the onions, apples and celery. Saute for approximately 10 minutes, or until all are soft and translucent. 



 





Add the salt and spices and allow to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. 







 
Add the coconut milk, vegetable stock and rice. 

Cover and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring periodically. Either pour the mixture into a blender and blend until completely smooth, or use a stick/immersion blender and blend in the pot until completely smooth. 


Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the lime juice, taste, and season with salt and/or hot sauce to taste.