Dairy-Free Cream of Celery Soup (Crockpot)

Mmm-mmmm... soup! The homemade kind, cooked slowly, so all those flavors have time to "marry" as they say on cooking shows.

Happy July 1st! Except I have a summer cold from hell. With all the hacking and sneezing and general gross sickness awefulness, I found myself craving some warm, comforting, creamy... celery? Figured maybe my body needed it.

So, while the boys played outside in the pool and my husband worked on his tan, it definitely felt a little off-season to be cooking up some hot wintry soup. But after this recipe being so yummy and creamy, I can see me wanting to make this all the time six months from now.

I'm not completely dairy-free, but I try not to have much dairy at all when I have a cold - it only seems to stuff me up more. So I made this soup using Almond milk. Try to buy a higher calorie kind so it's creamier. Use bone broth instead of canned and you'll really build that immunity!

Also, I looked it up on the internets, and apparently celery does boost the immune system, being high in vitamin C and anti-inflammatory. Of course, the internet also says that my symptoms indicate I have two days to live, so there's that...

Anyway, for anyone with one of those awful colds here is a warm healthy soup to comfort you.

 What are your go-to foods when you get sick?

Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrots

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups chopped cauliflower

3 cups almond milk

1 cup chicken broth

2 Tbs. dairy-free butter or oil

1/4 tsp. xanthum gum

1/4 cup Tapioca starch or whole wheat flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. onion powder

pepper to taste

**note: add chicken or ground beef if you need the meat in there. Im just not a huge meat person.

Directions:

Chop the celery, garlic, and carrots and set aside. I do this the day before and keep the veggies in containers in the fridge.
At around ten a.m. I throw them the crock pot with the liquids and butter and set it to low.
Next steam the cauliflower in a saucepan, about 5 - 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Mix together the starch, xanthum gum, salt, and onion powder in a small bowl.
Using a food processor, purée the cauliflower. As the mixture spins, open the top and slowly pour in the small bowl of dry mixture until well combined. You can pour in some of the crockpot liquid if this mixture starts to become too thick.
Use a spatula to pour the cauliflower purée into the crockpot. Stir to combine.
Now just let the celery and carrots soften and the flavors combine for about 7 or 8 hours, stirring occasionally.