This is a fantastic way of encouraging children to try more odd looking vegetables like celeriac which is also known as celery root. They can be available all year round but are at their best between September and April. One celeriac goes a long way so you will have plenty leftover to freeze for another time. You can increase your 5 a day intake by swapping the potatoes for sweet potatoes; your soup will just be browner in colour.
For a lovely story about celeriac, check out – The Knobbly, Wobbly, Bobbly, Celeriac
Skills Check
Follow a recipe; follow food safety & hygiene rules; tidy away; cut using bridge/claw knife technique safely; use measuring spoons; use a jug to measure liquids; use weighing scales; use a vegetable peeler safely; crush garlic; season to taste; use a hob and hand blender (under adult supervision); garnish.
Equipment
Sharp knife, chopping board, large pan, measuring spoons and jug, weighing scales, wooden spoon and hand blender.
Allergens (Please note the allergens listed are indicative only. Allergens vary depending on brand; check the labels on the products you use)
Celery | Milk | May contain gluten
Ingredients (serves 6):
- 1.5 litres of reduced sodium/salt vegetable stock
- 1 large celeriac, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
- 3 large eating apples, cored and sliced.
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2 cm chunks
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 40g butter
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 dsp reduced fat crème fraiche, to serve
- 6 sprigs of fresh parsley, to garnish
Method
- Gently melt the butter in the large pan over a low heat and add the onions. Cook for about 10 minutes so the onions are soft but not brown, stirring occasionally.
- Add the celeriac, apple, potatoes, garlic, thyme, stock, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir well and bring to the boil.
- Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Allow to cool for a while then, use the hand blender to blend the soup to a thick, velvety consistency.
- Check the seasoning and serve with a dessertspoon of crème fraiche swirled on top.
So thinking about celeriac and apple soup...
Celeriac is a vegetable full of different vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants; compounds which have been found to be extremely beneficial to health.
Apples are high in fibre and are packed with lots of different substances called phytochemicals. Phytochemicals can help protect our bodies against disease.
Nutritional Information
Energy | 747kJ/179kcal | 9% | |
Low | Fat | 8.0g | 11% |
Low | Saturates | 4.9g | 25% |
Low | Sugars | 11.0g | 12% |
Low | Salt | 0.1g | 2% |
per 428g serving
% of an adult's reference intake
Typical values per 100g: Energy 174kJ / 42kcal
Notes
A traffic light system is used on nutrition labels to make it easier to see which foods and drinks are lower in calories, fat, sugar and salt. Try and choose more ‘greens’ and ‘ambers’ and fewer ‘reds’, and stick to smaller portions of ‘reds’.
Just because a recipe or a food has a red traffic light doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat it. Understanding why a food or recipe might have a red light can be helpful. For example oily fish is high in total fat and so any recipe containing oily fish is likely to be ‘red’ for fat. But it is recommended that we eat oily fish at least once a week because the type of fat it contains is beneficial for our health.
% Reference Intakes are also shown. Reference Intakes are guidelines about the approximate amount of particular nutrients and energy required for a healthy diet (based on an average-sized woman doing an average amount of physical activity). Most children will require less than these Reference Intakes. The contribution of one serving of a food or drink to the Reference Intake for each nutrient is expressed as a percentage.