Chilled Cream of Celery Soup with a Roasted Beet and Chive garnish

I had a bunch of vegetables that I needed to use up so I decided to make a nice summer soup.  This was the first time I made this, in fact I made the recipe up as I was cooking. It turned out surprisingly well.
 

Cream of Celery Soup

In a Dutch oven sauté the following ingredients until the vegetables are softened

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 ½ cups of diced celery

¼ cup of chopped celery leaves

1 cup of diced carrot

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced red potato

Salt and Pepper

Once the vegetables are cooked, add 2 ½ cups of organic chicken broth.  Place the top of the Dutch oven and reduce the temperature to a low heat. Let the veggies simmer in the broth for approximately 30 minutes.  Using a hand blender mix the veggies and broth and slowly add 1 ½ cups of skim milk. Blend until the soup is smooth.


Let the soup cool and bring to room temperature.


Roasted Beets

Prepare the beets by washing and trimining off the ends off.

Place the trimmed beets in a roasting pan with a little water. Cover with aluminum foil and cook on 425 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  Let the beets cool a bit and then you can easily remove the skin.

To serve the soup, place some slices of beets sprinkled with chopped chives in a low bowl. Pour the soup around the beets. Season with a dash of salt if you choose and its ready to go.

The nice thing about this soup is it can be served warm too.  You can eat it as is or garnish with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese and chopped chives.