2010 Healthy Recipes, Week #2

I love homemade soup and stew during the cold months of winter. Chicken noodle, chili, potato-leek, stews, potato-cheese, all of these to name a few bring comfort as cliche as that sounds. I've been looking at several potato-leek recipes over the past few months from Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, Gourmet and Lion House cook books. I've made a few renditions of this for entertaining at our annual soup party, friends over for meals etc. I've finally settled on this adjusted version of my potato-leek soup. This is lightened up significantly from these original recipes, but it still maintains a taste of creaminess. You'd never know it was still healthy.



Dan’s Potato Leek Soup

2 Leeks, trimmed, washed and finely chopped
1 Sweet Onion, finely chopped
4 Garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
4 Bay Leaves
2 T Olive Oil
4 Russet Potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 QT Vegetable or Chicken Stock
1 T Sea Salt
1 T Black Pepper, freshly ground
4 T Fresh Dill chopped, or 1 T Dried Dill
½ C Reduced Fat Sour Cream
4 Green Onions – optional
4 Slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled – optional

In soup pot, heat the olive oil just until it begins to smoke over medium high heat. Sauté leeks and onion for five minutes until they begin to wilt, you do not need to caramelize them. Add the garlic and bay leaves and cook for five more minutes. Add chopped potatoes, salt, pepper and stock. Add additional stock if necessary until potatoes are just barely submerged. Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are fork tender. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaves and discard. Puree soup with an immersion stick blender, or use a regular blender. If using a regular blender, you may need to puree in small batches. Return pureed soup to pot and mix in sour cream. You may need to adjust salt and pepper seasonings at this stage. Stir in freshly chopped dill. Garnish with chopped green onion, bacon crumbles, more fresh dill and a dollop of sour cream if desired.

This can be completely vegetarian by omitting the bacon garnish, and using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, and creamy soy, instead of the sour cream.