Tops and Bottom Celery Soup (gluten-free, dairy-free)

The weather here cooled off briefly for a day or two so I decided I felt like having some soup.  That is something I haven't eaten in awhile since it's been rather hot here.  I've been trying more recipes from the book called The Plant Paradox and I will admit, some have been a flop, thus no posting.  Or maybe I should say, they did not meet my taste standards.  I'm sure I made them correctly, but when you're using alternative ingredients, some recipes just taste too weird.  But this soup recipe was really good.  I'd never bought celery root before and wasn't even sure what it was.  The root of celery, I guess. (Thus, the title of the recipe.)  I forgot to take a photo of it before I chopped it up but it looks like a gnarly Russet potato but has the texture of a rutabaga, or something like that.  I only made half the recipe, in case it turned out to be a flop again but now I wish I would have made the whole thing.  Yummy. I will definitely make this again. Mine turned out a little thick but thinning it down with more broth is easy enough.  I'll put that little tip in the recipe.  It's also very filling.  It might not look like much but it's very hearty, flavorful and satisfying.  

You're probably wondering if I feel any different since I've been doing this low lectin diet.  I thought I'd try it because it's suppose to reduce inflammation and I have inflammation from arthritis in my knees but I can't say I feel any different.  It's been about two weeks but I haven't been completely on it 100%, either.  There have been a lot of "special occasions", I guess you could say.  I've definitely been eating a lot less lectin than before but not as low as the book recommends.  I think this is something you have to gradually work into your lifestyle. The biggest culprit is corn.  It's hard to cut out corn.  And corn is something they talk about in the book that is in everything we eat. (If you haven't seen King Corn, you better put it on your list.) I've had corn-on-the-cob once and tortilla chips several times.  I order salads when I'm out but they still have lectin foods in them like beans, tomato, corn, etc.  I've been craving Mexican food, for whatever reason, thus the corn.  When I've been out with Bruce, I just order a salad and then "pick" at his entree or we call it "sharing an entree".  On Saturday night, it was a burrito (wheat and beans) at Cactus, one of our favorite places.  I love their Baja margaritas. (Alcohol is actually allowed as long as it doesn't have the forbidden ingredients like this drink had jalapeños and sugar.)

We went down to Alki beach to check out the big concert going on hosted by Seattle's local record label called Sub Pop.  It was their 30th anniversary and they had four stages with bands playing all day for free.  

They were expecting 30,000 people and I think they were pretty close to that. 

The best part of going down to Alki beach is to catch the sunset.  I'm sure this was one of the best venues for a Sub Pop anniversary concert. 

So, I was off the diet on that evening...Then on Friday night, Bruce and I went to see Pearl Jam play at Safeco field to help raise money for the homeless crisis here in Seattle.

It was an amazing concert and I'm so glad we went. 

They played until midnight, over three hours.  They are such a great band.

I drank two beers (wheat) and also "picked" at Bruce's fish and chips (potatoes and wheat, plus bad, unhealthy fat!) at Pyramid Ale House where we went for dinner before the concert. But boy, it was a fun night.

I also made my favorite Chinese Chicken Salad last week for our annual block party that our street has which is always a very fun time. 

This salad has noncompliant peas, sesame seeds, and sugar in the dressing - which is why it's so good!  I ate a lot of high lectin foods that night, including ice cream.  In fact, I've eaten ice cream several times these past couple of weeks.  So, you can see why I'm not feeling any different.  I really need to be more compliant, if that is ever possible.  Even at home, you need to clean out your kitchen and restock it with low lectin versions of your favorite foods.  It's not cheap, either, since the alternatives cost more.  I finally bought these new storage containers because I'm accumulating so many new ingredients in my kitchen.  Some in this photo are still old ingredients, in case you're wondering.

I found this cereal I like that is lectin-free since it's just puffed millet and it's pretty good.   It's like the puffed rice cereal that was popular when we were kids.

I also found the casein A2 milk they talked about in the book.  It was at our local Fred Meyer (Kroger) grocery store. 

I'd never heard of this kind of milk before so I was surprised to find it.  

 I am still going to keep trying to do this diet because I think it is more healthful (and I'm eating less added corn in my food sources).  I'll keep monitoring how I'm feeling so stay tuned.

This soup recipe is a take on Food & WIne's spotlight on chef Julianne Jone's recipe for Celeriac Soup.  That must be why it's so good because I've always love recipes from Food & Wine, even though I realize this one has been altered a bit.  

Serves 4

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, or avocado oil or perilla oil

One 1-pound celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 celery stalks with leaves, cut into 1-inch pieces 

1/4 cup minced dried onions, or 1/2 red onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary leaves, or 1 tsp. dried rosemary

1/4 tsp. sea salt, preferably iodized

1/2 tsp.  cracked black pepper

3 cups organic vegetable broth

1/2 lemon

3 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

1.  In a large Dutch oven or heavy saucepan, heat the 3 Tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the chopped celery root, celery, onion, rosemary, salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the celery root and celery start to soften and brown a bit. 

2.  Add the broth and lemon, and bring to a boil.

3.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally and check to see when the celery root is tender.

4.  Once the celery root is tender, remove from heat and discard the lemon half.

5.  Transfer about half of the mixture to a high-speed blender and blend on the puree or soup setting until smooth and creamy.  Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

6.  Reheat the whole batch in the Dutch oven for about 5 minutes.  If it is too thick, thin with a little more broth while it is reheating. 

7.  To serve, pour into serving bowls and garnish with parsley.  Drizzle 1 Tbsp. olive oil over each bowl, if desired.