The weekends seem to breeze by, don’t they? But, with my Birthday on Friday, I decided to extend the weekend birthday happiness and create a delicious warming soup to keep me cozy n’ smiling.

And it did just that.

Celery, something that is fabulous in a chopped salad or stew isn’t something that I’d regularly use as a main ingredient in my meals but last night I decided to experiment and create a bisque that’s both gluten-free and vegan.

Well, it’s tasty.

Quite tasty that I brought over a bit for my neighbor and she adored it.

The touch of cashews makes this bisque creamy and pairs well with the smooth avocado that I love so much.  For a little bit of fun, I decided to toss in a bit of sage, orange zest, curry powder and dried lavender.  Wild, right? I got a little crazy…but loved the flavor combination.

I decided to use brown rice in this recipe but you could easily use quinoa, buckwheat, jasmine rice or wild rice and it would taste just as delicious.  I opted for the brown rice because I had it on hand but any grain of choice should work if you’d like to alter it.  No need to run out and get brown rice if all you have on hand is wild or jasmine.  But, if you’re feeling experimental, go ahead and try quinoa or buckwheat, which are two delicious gluten-free grains.

One little taste of this bisque and it will knock your socks off (well you know what I mean, hehe). You’ll enjoy it and it can be paired with a salad, baked tofu or bean burgers for a bit of protein.

I’m loving the orange zest, lavender and sage mixed together..it’s getting me in the mood for Spring…and I keep taking spoonfulls of this bisque throughout the day from my fridge. It’s just too good for words.

Mmmm.

Creamy Vegan Lavender Celery Bisque

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread
• 1 cup sweet white onion, diced
• 2 cups celery, diced
• 1 cup zucchini, diced
• 1/3 tsp. sage
• 1/3 tsp. orange zest
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/8 tsp. curry powder
• 1/8 tsp. dried lavender
• 10 cashews

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter.  Add onion, celery and zucchini; cook until onions are translucent, approximately 5 minutes.  Add sage, orange zest and brown rice; cook for another 3 minutes.
2. Add vegetable broth; reduce heat to medium.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until rice is tender.  Add sea salt, pepper, avocado, curry powder and dried lavender.
3. In a blender, process cashews until they form a ground consistency.
4. Add celery mixture to the ground cashews in the blender.  Puree until smooth; serve immediately.
5. Enjoy!

I’m also very excited to announce that I have been named the Manhattan Gluten-Free Examiner.  Be sure to check out my gluten-free articles at Examiner.com for some tasty tips n’ recipes.