I recently had the opportunity to learn more cooking at an event called the Cooking Experience, a culinary mash-up where participants learned about various products and brands (Lifeway, LG, Welch’s, SoyJoy and Nature’s Path, to name a few) as well as and how to prepare recipes in a creative, yet healthy way. Part meet ‘n’greet, interactive cooking lesson, and food sampling, the evenings dinner menu was created by Registered Dietitian and Chef Diane Henderiks. Her delicious and mouth-watering dishes focused on nutritionally-rich food and various out-of-the-box flavor combinations that highlighted the various products such as an amazing pecan crusted barramundi that we had for our main course and a velvety leek and asparagus soup with parmesan-panko crips. Instead of using heaving cream, the soup used Lifeway kefir, a probiotic beverage made from fermented milk and kefir cultures that made it rich and velvety without being heavy. I decided to try a variation of this recipe at home that included leeks, asparagus and potatoes and my own additions – celeric root and dill. Try this at home, and trust me you won’t miss the cream either.
Creamless Leek and Asparagus Soup with Celeriac Root and Kefir
Meal type
|
Asparagus, Celery, Leek, Potato
|
Season
|
Fall, Winter
|
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 medium leek (white and pale green parts only); cleaned and thinly sliced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 1/2 pounds asparagus; trimmed and coarsely chopped
- 1 celeriac root, peeled and chopped
- 2 medium potatoes; peeled and quartered
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup Lifeway Lowfat Plain Kefir
2 cups of water
- 1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 teaspoon of celery salt
1 tablespoon of dried dill
Directions
1
|
In a medium soup pot, saute the onions, leeks and garlic in oil until tender
|
2
|
Add the water, celeriac root, potatoes, asparagus, dill and celery salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 30-40 minutes. |
3
|
Puree the soup in a blender. |
4
|
Add in Lifeway Kefir, salt and pepper and Enjoy! |