Late November’s chill brings the need to provide warmth at our tables! It also brings root vegetables and fresh apples into our pantries! This celery root soup uses both.

I have always loved cooking with celery root.  Like a lot of root vegetables, they are very versatile. They can be diced and roasted, simmered and mashed or made into soup, or sliced thin and eaten raw in a salad.  The depth of flavor can stand up to almost any spice or herb.

When you talk about celery root, I can’t help but bring the funky outcast of our modern flavor chart, Umami into our story.  Everyone knows about Sweet, Sour, Salty, and Bitter, but Umami may be a mystery to some.  Umami derives from the Japanese word for delicious, umai; Umami roughly translates into the cute term, “deliciousness.”  Essentially the flavor profile is savory and “meaty .” 

Cooked Celery Root has this creamy, savory deliciousness, making it a great base ingredient for a warm-you-up satisfying soup.  When you add the Granny Smith Apples and cider vinegar to the mix, the sweet-tart acidity makes this soup’s flavor explode. 

The crown on this soup is the simple Apple Slaw with Bacon and Pomegranate Seeds. The slaw is bound with a little Pommery Mustard and sour cream.  

Slow-cookers rule! This one is my favorite!

This is a perfect soup to serve as an eye-pleasing appetizer if you’re entertaining or to enjoy with a hunk of bread for lunch.