A great way to save money and reduce your carbon footprint (if only a little) is to cook with seasonal vegetables and fruits. Our grocery stores generally stock common fruits & vegetables year round, but it’s smart to know which items weren’t flown half way around the world to get to your grocery store.
Learn which fruits & vegetables are in season.
Give this Potato Leek soup recipe a try; both potatoes and leeks are easy to find in January, and this will warm you from head to toe on a chilly winter evening.
Potato Leek Soup
- 2 large leeks, with trimmed roots and ends (use white & light green parts only), washed well and sliced thin
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, quartered and sliced 1/8” thin
- 6 cups chicken broth
- Salt & ground pepper to taste
- Heavy cream or half & half to taste
Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the leeks, thyme and bay leaf. Add a fair pinch of salt. Sauté until the leeks soften, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes with another small pinch of salt and cook for about 4 minutes. Add the broth, bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender, but not quite mushy, about 20 – 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs. Using either an immersion blender in the pot or ladling the soup into a blender in batches, puree about half of the soup and return the puree to the pot. Stir in cream if desired, and add salt & pepper to taste.