Rustic Cream of Parsnip Soup

This was just added to my pantheon of great soups.  Parsnips are one of my favorite side dish vegetables, more interesting than potatoes.  Uncle Steven came to expect them at our house.  They are good roasted, a nice addition, chopped, to motzah ball soup, and good mashed, too.

This soup is creamy without using half-and-half like most recipes do. One important thing is having a good sudoku knife - without that leverage it is really hard to slice and chop parsnips.  This recipe makes about 8 servings.

1 T olive oil (or butter)
one medium onion
2-3 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 medium sized parsnips 
2 carrots, optional (they make it a more appealing color)
4 c. broth (vegetarian powdered is fine)
bay leaf
salt, pepper
dash of nutmeg
other optional herbs - parsley or dill for garnish

• Heat oil (or butter) in a deep pot with a lid.  
• Peel and chop the onion and add it with the garlic and saute at medium.  
• Chop the celery [or leeks] and add.  
• Peel the parsnips and dice, cutting the long way and then crosswise.  Add to the sauteing vegetables.  
• Add chopped carrots, if you like.
• Pour in 4 cups of broth, salt, pepper, the bay leaf, and a pinch of nutmeg. 
• Simmer for about 20 minutes, covered, until the vegetables are soft.  
• Using an immersion blender, process until smooth.  It's fine if some of the vegetables are still a little chunky, which gives a nice texture.

It's a fairly bland color (a good reason to add carrots), so chopped parsley helps! This gives a lot of flavor and depth for a vegan dish.