Potato Leek Soup

Some days I am a machine, I will wake up at 2:30 in the morn' bike 15 miles to work and bake my little heart out, only to bike 15 miles home to clean the house or bake for another event in my evening hours. Then there are days when I sleep in until 6am (yes that IS sleeping in) I will pour a bowl of cereal and read, then eventually fall back asleep and wake up again at 9am or so and just lallygag all day until Timmy comes home to occupy my bored and weary brain. Yesterday was one of those days I spent loitering around the house doing the bare minimum so I wouldn't feel like such a sloucher. I washed a dish or three, did a load of laundry and then made a soup so delicious Timmy barely noticed how I destroyed the the kitchen in the soup making process.

Now, I haven't had potato soup in years, in fact the last time I think I had it was as a child and it was always served with bacon. My grandmother made the best soup ever, always from scratch and always the perfect flavor. She even put an ice cube or two in it for me so it wouldn't burn my little tongue.

I hope as these cooler months sweep in this soup recipe will be utilized the warm up all of my favorite people who pass by this blog. It is easy to make and so very tasty. Also the ingredients are easy to come by, so no confusing market searches.



Potato Leek Soup

20-25 small red potatoes (wash really well and leave the skins on)
1 T. olive oil
1 large leek, washed and chopped
6 cloves of garlic, cut into small chunks
1 cup chopped celery
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
6 cups water or vegetable broth
1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/3 cup white wine
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. dried rosemary
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Fill a large pot 3/4 way full with water and boil potatoes until soft, about 45 minutes. Strain the potatoes and let cool until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile start chopping and peeling all of your vegetables. In a large pot place 1 T. of olive oil and turn heat to medium. Toss in your leeks and saute for about five minutes, then add the garlic and saute for another three minutes. Add pepper, salt, rosemary and thyme and stir around.

At this point your kitchen is going to smell heavenly. Pour white wine and Liquid Aminos in the pot with leeks and such and turn heat down to a medium low. At this point add in the celery and carrots and cut up potatoes into chunks and add in as well. Lastly pour in your water or vegetable broth and cook the soup on low for about an hour.

Using a food processor or a reliable mixer remove about 1/2 of your soup and blend until you get a smooth creamy mixture. Pour the mixture back in with the rest of the soup and cook for another hour or so on low. I like to have my soup cook all day, but really it is not necessary. I served our soup with grilled cheese and pepper sandwiches.



If you try this recipe let me know what you think of it. This amount made 6 hearty bowls of soup and is great for a family on a budget, because all of the ingredients are fairly inexpensive.

Roasted Sweet and Red Potatoes

Sometimes while at work I will walk the aisles of my fine grocery store and make lists. Lists of things to purchase that week, lists of new cupcake flavors, lists of my favorite mythological creatures and often lists of foods I do not eat enough of or at all. Just this last Sunday I eyed some fantastic organic sweet potatoes and tried to remember all of the things I have made with sweet potatoes and I came up with one dish, sweet potato pie. Now, this is my favorite pie in all of the land so I was not completely disappointed with my lack of s.p. culinary prowess. I was, however, upset that since I do love this root vegetable with an intense fiery passion that I do not eat it more often and more as an entree instead of dessert.

The sweet little potatoes are packed with beta carotene, vitamin A, fiber, B6, vitamin C, are beneficial for those with diabetes and are raved about by one of my fave Vegan chefs Bryant Terry (Vegan Soul Kitchen); that it really boggles my teeny brain as to why I have not been eating these by the bucketful.

I decided on roasting these babies with red potatoes because I really did not know what else to do with them, next week I am thinking pizza with them. As for Monday, they were a side dish to Bryant Terry's delicious black-eyed pea fritters and an arugula and spinach salad with oranges and blackberries. Sounds yummy, huh? Everything was so tasty I ate it twice (saved some for lunch the next day)! I make my co-workers jealous with my leftovers. :)

Roasted Sweet and Red Potatoes

3 red potatoes
5 medium sweet potatoes
1 red onion
5 cloves garlic
2 T. olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Peal and cube sweet potatoes, cube red potatoes leaving skins on (that is where the fiber is!) chop onion and mince garlic. Combine all in pan and coat with olive oil and sprinkle on sea salt and pepper. Bake for 35-45 minutes.


Ready for oven!

Black-eyed Pea Fritters

Arugula and Spinach salad with Blackberries and Oranges

All together now...