Potato and Leek Soup - Quick supper

(Image from Cooking Light)

Sometimes it’s hard to come home from a busy day and think about preparing dinner. I think American’s really need to focus more on cooking and the quality of the food they are consuming and less on other things. My theory is that dinner should be one of the priorities in our lives - not only will it provide you with quality family time but it will also help us all move away from corn and other processed foods. I have for many years been working on avoiding convenience foods but I know it is difficult with so many things going on in our lives to keep away from them. To help in this avoidance we all need to be armed with items that can be whipped up in a pinch whether it be from your pantry or from your fridge.   It has only been in the past few years that I have started buying leeks on a regular basis.   I have found that they add such great flavor to so many things and they keep for quite a while in your veggie drawer waiting for their turn.

This soup is delicious, comforting, quick and adaptable.   You can add any liquid you like or you can add other vegetables into it at will.  Sometimes I will add some broccoli or asparagus to it…


Potato and Leek Soup

2 leeks, remove hard outer leaves, split in half, washed well and chopped
1 clove of garlic minced
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and in ½ cubes (used russet but have been known to use any
potato around the house)
2 cups of liquid – water, chicken stock, milk, half n half depending upon where your diet is at
that week (this comes out well regardless of the liquid used but I will always
use at least 1 cup of milk to give it some creaminess)
1 Tablespoon of butter
Salt and Pepper
Red Pepper flakes (optional, in case you want a bit of spice)

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium high. Add leeks and let them soften and begin to brown. Add garlic and let it soften for a minute. Add potatoes, liquid, salt and pepper (to taste) and let cook until potatoes soften, about 20 minutes. Once potatoes are soft, taste soup for seasoning and adjust, serve or use a masher to break up the potatoes a bit or puree it with a hand blender.