Leek Soup

Essentially all you need to do is cook the veggies, add the broth and seasonings, and wait. I like to cook the onion and leeks in butter for at a minimum 15 minutes before adding the other vegetables. The leeks need to soften up the most. After cooking the onions and leeks for awhile, add in the rest of the veggies and cook for a few minutes. Then add the broth and seasonings. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook until all the veggies are tender. I've made this many times and sometimes I use chicken broth or just plain water. If you have larger vegetables you might need to add more broth or water to make the soup as soupy as you like. Another great thing to do with this soup is to blend it and make it into a wonderful low fat, no cream, cream soup. I like adding turmeric for it's color and flavor, however, it makes the soup pretty yellow as you can see in the picture. It it doesn't change the soup much if you choose to leave it out. You could use Italian seasoning if you would like as well. The vinegar I use is a dark aged Chinese vinegar. I am sure balsamic will work, or you could just squeeze some lemon juice in at the end. Also if you have never used leaks before, make sure you discard the dark green tops, the outer layer, then split them down the middle, and rinse with water before chopping. Leeks often have a lot of sand in them and you do not really want that in your soup. If you do not like onion flavor, you should try this soup with just leeks. It is sweeter and milder.