Potato Leek Soup

This soup is crazy easy. I can't believe I never tried it before. And for all you onion naysayers out there, leeks are onions for people who don't like onions. Just give it a try. I made this for meat free Monday dinner, but if I were making it on any other day of the week, I would have started with a little bacon. As a bonus for me, the kid even ate a little bit... Okay, he dipped his bread in it and then ate the bread, but I'm counting it as vegetable consumption!


Potato Leek Soup
1 tblsp butter
1 tblsp olive oil
4 leeks, whites and greens, sliced thin
4 white potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks
1 turnip, peeled and chopped into small chunks
1 quart vegetable stock
1 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
Melt butter in pan with olive oil over medium heat. Add leeks (if you don't know how to clean leeks, see below) and cook until tender. Salt and pepper cooked leeks. Add chopped potatoes and turnips and stir to combine. Add stock and water and salt the broth. Cook until potatoes and turnips are fork tender. Using a stick blender, blend soup until smooth. In a separate small saucepan, slowly heat milk and heavy cream, but don't boil. Add milk mixture to the soup and stir to combine. Serve with crusty bread.


On cleaning leeks. Leeks are layers and layers of sand and dirt trapping goodness. For this application, the easiest way to clean them is to slice them in half lengthwise, then slice each half into thin slices. Put the leeks in a large, deep bowl filled with water. Swish the leeks around and then walk away. Let them sit for 5-10 minutes and then skim the leeks off the top of the water with a mesh scoop.