Potato Leek Soup

Hi my friends,

We had a cold spell here in Florida and I found myself craving homemade soup.  I remembered that I loved potato leek soup in my younger days and found that I had most of the ingredients already in the house.  I made a huge pot and it was so delicious that the soup that I had thought would last a couple of days was all gone on the day I made it.  It is extremely inexpensive to make and you can change a couple of the ingredients to make it as healthy as you want (or as decadent as you want). I vote for the decadent version - consider it a once in a while splurge.  I am posting the recipe for the decadent version.  This batch of soup (8-10 servings) cost me around $5 to make.  It may cost you a bit more if you don't have most of the ingredients on hand.

For a healthier version, use something like Smart Balance butter and 2% milk (I do not suggest using skim).

Your ingredient list:

• 3 tbsp butter or Smart Balance
• 3-4 leeks - washed well and thinly sliced (use only the white and light green parts - save the dark greens for your stock pot)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 6-8 potatoes scrubbed and thinly sliced
• 3-4 cups chicken or veggy broth
• 1 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 and 1/2, or whole milk, or 2% milk)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 bay leaves
• chopped fresh chives (to taste - I used approx 2 tbsp) or jarred chives
• chopped parsley (to taste - I used approx 1 tbsp) or jarred parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large pot on medium-high heat, add the butter, then add the onions and leeks.  Cook until they are soft.  Add the sliced potatoes and the broth.  You only want the broth to cover the potatoes by about an inch.  Add the chili powder and bay leaves.  Cook until the potatoes are tender.  Remove the bay leaves and, at this point you have a few options.  I used a potato masher to mash the potatoes a bit and then put 1/3 of the soup into my blender and pulsed it a few times.  You can choose to not mash anything, or do what I did, or pulse all of your soup (in batches) in the blender. It all depends on the consistency you are looking for.  DO NOT USE A FOOD PROCESSOR - it will turn it into a glutenous mass.  Return everything to the pot, add the cream (or milk), chives, and parlsey and cook on medium heat for an additional 15 minutes.

If you find the soup is too thick, you can thin it out with more broth.

Happy eating,
K