Simple Leek, Garlic and Potato Soup

For a surprise color, I made this soup with the red-skinned and red-flesh Mountain Rose potato.

diced Mountain Rose potatoes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 leeks, thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, about 1 1/2 cups

7 cups light vegetable broth

2 pounds potatoes, well-scrubbed and cut in 3/4-inch dice

7 or 8 cloves garlic, peeled

Real Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped green onion, for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium flame. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Add the vegetable broth, potatoes and garlic and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender.

Puree the soup on the pot with an immersion blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If your vegetable broth is low sodium, you will need to add more salt. If you prefer a smooth texture, strain out any skins that did not puree completely.

Serve in bowls, garnished with the chopped green onions.

Makes about 8 servings.

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Sprouted Bean Trio Salad with Grilled Zucchini and Leeks

Sprouted Bean Trio Salad

I made this salad for a neighborhood potluck dinner—using some more of the 3 pound bag of truRoots Sprouted Bean Trio that I bought months ago at Costco. It says on the bag to boil in water for 5 minutes. Don’t believe everything you read—it takes 15 minutes and then needs to stand, covered for another 10. After that you can drain the beans and finish this protein-rich salad.

1 cup sprouted beans

3 to 4 small zucchini

1 leek, white part only

1 carrot, grated

¼ cup chopped summer savory leaves

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon Real Salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Bring 3 cups water and the sprouted beans to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered for 10 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Refrigerate.

While the sprouted beans are cooking and standing, heat up the grill and slice the zucchini. Toss the zucchini with some extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Cook on the grill until much of the zucchini has golden brown marks. Dump onto a cutting board and chop into 1-inch pieces. Add to the sprouted beans.

Cut the leek in half and spray the cut sides with cooking spray. Lay the leek halves face down on the grill and cook until a light char appears. Chop the charred leeks and sauté them in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add to the beans along with the grated carrot and the summer savory.

Make a dressing with the ¼ cup of olive oil,  red wine vinegar, cumin, salt and cayenne. Pour over the sprouted beans and vegetables and stir very well. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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Cream of ‘Mess o’ Greens’ Soup

More than a dozen years ago, Deer Valley co-hosted a fundraising event for Red Butte Garden,  a part of the University of Utah. Rotating through Snow Park Lodge’s banquet rooms, turned into classrooms set with portable demo kitchens complete with mirrors and gas stoves, guests enjoyed 3 Deer Valley chefs cooking 3 separate menus, all featuring fresh herbs.

I was one of the “Chefs for All Seasonings” teaching the half-hour classes—and keeping with the herb theme, I made oatmeal rosemary scones, peppercorn and pear tart, and basil ice creams, both plain and chocolate. Another chef followed his Southern heritage and taught pan-fried catfish with cornmeal and thyme, red beans and rice and mess o’ greens. Even though I’d lived in the North Carolina mountains for 2 years, I think that was the first time I heard that term used to describe a bitter-tangy-sweet mixture of greens, like collards, mustard greens, kale etc. If you come from the South, your mother probably made mess o’ greens flavored with salt pork or bacon, cooked for hours on end.

Well I love my greens, and I always make them on New Years Day to insure a profitable year, but I cook them without meat and only until they are just tender, about 15 minutes.

Here is a warming soup to welcome the first real freeze of the fall, and to use several of our CSA veggies of the week: potatoes, leeks, onions, garlic, jalapeño pepper and Ranui mess o’ greens. It’s also a vegan recipe, with cashew milk instead of milk or cream. Serve with corn muffins–I recommend the recipe from my cookbook if you don’t have a favorite corn muffin or cornbread recipe.

Cream of Mess o’ Greens Soup

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup plus 4 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 leeks, white part mostly, cleaned and sliced into rings

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and veins removed, chopped

2 medium potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice

5 cups mess o’ greens, with the stems stripped and discarded

1 teaspoon Real Salt

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, optional

In a blender, whir the cashews and 1 cup of the vegetable broth until smooth, about a minute.

In a large soup pot or pressure cooker over medium flame, heat the olive oil. Cook and stir the leeks for a minute; add the onions and cook and stir another minute or so. Add the garlic and jalapeño pepper, the remaining 4 cups of vegetable broth, the potatoes and the mess o’ greens. Add the salt. Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Alternately–if you use a pressure cooker, lock the lid in place, and over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 6 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally or use a quick-release method.

Stir in the reserved cashew “milk.” Remove from the heat. Puree the soup with an immersion blender directly in the pot, or in the regular blender (in batches.).

Season to taste with salt and the optional lemon juice—to intensify the flavor.

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