Dinner Is Served

Tuesday night I made soup for dinner. Nothing is easier and more satisfying than a good bowl of potato soup. You can have this on the table in about 30 minutes start to finish! This is a fairly traditional and straight forward recipe that relies on both leeks and cream to add to both the depth of flavor and texture of the soup. All you dieters out there can follow my modifications but should note that in the overall scheme of the whole recipe the fat content is not mind blowing and the flavors really are enhanced by the cream.

Potato Leek Soup
1 Qt Chicken Broth (I like to use an Organic Boxed Broth) may need 1 c more (can use water)
2 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes (4 large), peeled and given a large dice
1 Bunch Leeks( 3 stalks), slice the white ends and then wash in a bowl of water to remove sand
2 T Butter
2 t Olive Oil
1/4 c Heavy Cream (optional... but worth it)
salt (about 1 t)
pepper (about 1/2 t)


Place butter and oil in the bottom of a soup pot***. Melt over medium heat. Add leeks and saute until leeks have wilted. Add potatoes and pour Chicken Broth just to tops of potatoes (about 3 cups). Bring mixture to a simmer and season with 1/2 t of salt. Simmer until potato chunks are fork tender (this will depend on size... but about 15-20 mins). Turn off heat and blend soup until smooth with an immersion blender.** Thin soup to desired consistency with remaining/additional chicken stock (approx 1 cup). Return soup to a low simmer correct seasoning with approximately 1/2 t additional salt and 1/4-1/2 t ground pepper. Stir in !/4 c heavy cream (this adds both a richness of flavor but also a smoothness to the texture of the soup)* and serve.


This makes 6 hearty servings (1.5-2 c) at 276 calories and 8 g of fat in each.


*************************************************
Cooking Notes:

*You could also add in 1/4 c of milk (not skim) or a tablespoon or two of butter if you'd like to lower the fat and calories. If you are being really diet conscious you can leave out all additions and just serve it as is... still good!

**If you don't have an immersion blender fear not. You can blend this soup in a traditional blender (this will probably need to be done in two batches). Remember when blending hot liquid that you must keep the hole in the lid OPEN (cover with a dish cloth) to let the heat escape!!! Return soup to pot and continue with recipe.

***Butter has a low smoking point. If you want to saute something in butter (for the flavor) without having your butter brown on you add a little oil (canola or olive) with a higher smoking point.