One Pot Potato Leek Soup {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

IMG_0204It’s officially soup weather. The sweaters, boots and umbrella have been pulled out and are here to stay. The rain is here and it’s cozy time. Browsing in the market on Saturday, I was drawn to the gorgeous  leeks piled high in one of the bins at our local Whole Foods market. They were brilliantly colored, as big around as a hearty farm grown carrot and on sale. Check, check, check. There are two things I like to do with leeks; make a potato soup with them or sauté and eat them with olive oil and lemon for a snack. You can make soup with the stock sand sauté the leaves if you wish to have the best of both worlds. Sautéing leeks to eat as a snack would have NEVER crossed my mind, but I read it in a book I quite enjoy and have tried it a few times since. The book is something I picked up at a half-price book store a few years ago and find myself reading each year. It’s called “French Women Don’t Get Fat” by Mireille Guiliano. Now, let me pause here and say that I am not encouraging dieting behavior. The I love her healthy, holistic approach.

IMG_0205The focus of the book is teaching us how to eat for pleasure and nutrition versus eating, or not eating, as a diet choice.  She discourages dieting and is a fabulous writer. I agree with her encouragement for people  to view the relationships between food, weight and health within an over focus on a healthy happy lifestyle.  Okay, back to sautéed leeks. I had the best intention of using two boxes of chicken stock that I received from an amazing food conference I just attended (IFBC!). We’re really aware of how much salt goes into our food and opt for low salt whatever we can (broth, soy-sauce, chips, mixed nuts, etc). I have to give the disclaimer that I’m a broth snob. I love broth and have been known to make up a pot of broth in the winters to supplement my massive tea intake. My mother makes amazing soups and has always set the bar high. I’ve never found a boxed or canned broth that I find remotely decent. I’ve always used the same stock my mum uses the brand Better Than Bouillon and I always make sure to get the reduced sodium base. You’ll always find the chicken and beef base in my fridge but they have ham, turkey, lobster, mushroom, the list goes on! One caveat, not all of their flavors come in reduced sodium but the chicken and beef ones do and Costco carries them so I’m a happy camper! So, I grabbed a few leeks, potatoes and onions and was off to make the first soup of the season.

IMG_0201As I mentioned before, we go low salt so at first when I tasted this soup it really felt like it was missing an ingredient. After calling my mother the soup master (Just missed her, she had already gone to bed!) and googling what flavor should hit the center of your tongue, which was right where the soup was missing some seasoning flavor, the mister and I decided that it was salt. Simple salt. I took out a few spoonfuls of the soup and cracked some fresh pink salt on top and low and behold…that soup was PERFECT!

The fun part about this soup is that you can completely change the flavor of the soup with a few very simple cooking variations! Throw in a few carrots, or add some turnips with the potatoes. Not big on thyme myself, but you could add a tablespoon or two of dried thyme or 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme and/or if you like dill, which I don’t, you can include ½ tsp dried dill, or 1 tsp chopped fresh dill. You can cook with truffle oil or use truffle salt, or any other amazingly flavored salt you have stumbled upon. You could cook bacon in the pan first and wipe half the oil out, and use the remaining half of bacon grease to cook up the veggies and potatoes.

How do you like your potato leek soup? Leave a comment!!

One Pot Potato Leek Soup {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free} 

1 Tbsp rice bran oil
1 medium yellow onion
3 large leeks, without the leaves, sliced into rounds
4 medium russet potatoes, washed and chopped and loosely diced
pinch grey or pink salt
fresh cracked black pepper, and more to taste
chopped fresh or dried parsley
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp Better than Bouillon Reduced Sodium Chicken base + 7 cups hot water

Pull out your stock pot. Heat the rice bran oil over medium heat. Chop your onions and add them to the pot, stirring occasionally. To prep your leeks, wash the stocks and cut off the leaves right where the light green turns dark green and the leaves start. Cut off the roots.

Set the leaves aside (unless you want to wash them and include them which you totally can). Slice the stock in half, and cut 1/2 inch half moons until the stocks are all chopped. I do this so it’s easier to separate the leeks when I drop them into the pot.

Stir whatever you have in the pot a few times with each ingredient addition. Add the leeks to the pot and cover.

Cut your potatoes and add them to the pot to sauté for about 5-7 minutes. I cut my potatoes like I would for a breakfast hash: cut the potato in half, then half again and loosely dice.

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Once you’ve sautéed the leeks, onions and potatoes for a bit, add a pinch of salt, pepper, chopped fresh or dried parsley and 2 bay leaves. I always add bay leaves to my soup and broths because my mother does and she makes the most amazing soups! Just remember to pull both of them out before blending or serving!

While this is sautéing heat up your tea pot to mix the bouillon base.  I always mix the broth in a glass pyrex because just when you think it’s all dissolved into the water and pour it into your soup pot,  you’ll see the huge chunk of bouillon that was hiding at the bottom plop into the pot! Not amazing. Mix the bouillon in your pyrex, assuring it’s dissolved, then add it to the pot and bring to a boil.

Let the soup boil for a few minutes then reduce to low heat, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Check the soup to assure that the potatoes are cooked through and turn off the heat. Go fishing for your two bay leaves and pull those guys out. If you have a stainless steel immersion blender, which I don’t, puree of the soup in the pot until you reach the desired level of smoothness. If, like me you don’t own a fantastic immersion blender, pardon me while I add that to my amazon which list which is 90% cooking tools and cook books! I use my trusty vita mix and blend it in batches.

Taste the soup as you blend it because this is your chance to add more herbs and spices since you’re blending the heck out of it and the flavors will be sure to mix well.

Garnish with whatever your heart desires:
cracked pepper
fresh chopped parsley
pumpkin seeds (roasted pumpkin seeds recipe) and sub paprika for the salt
shaved marinated carrots
chopped green onions
sour cream
chopped bacon
fried onions
a drizzle of some truffle oil
… your options are endless!

Quick & Easy Fall Meal: Delicata Squash, Quinoa, Chicken

Screen Shot 2014-09-17 at 8.54.40 PMThere are nights that you get home and the LAST thing you want to do is cook. But, a bowl of cereal just isn’t going to cut it either. Image one of those days then add a three day moving process where so many things wen’t wrong you’ve lost count, and you just want it all to be over. That’s how the past week has been. I’ve been tired before, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt this level of exhaustion…falling into bed because I can’t bear to keep my body upright or my eyes open any longer. But I also can’t seem to stomach the idea of consuming another meal that doesn’t come from my own kitchen. I vowed that tonight was be the night, without and idea of what magic would happen to result in a consumable meal.

photoA quick triage of the fridge, pantry and cooking dishes quickly indicated that tonight was going to be a “throw together” meal and it was time to get a little creative. This was one of the meals where I just started chopping, sautéing and hoping that adding enough herbs would do the trick to result in a meal that was worth eating. There are a few kitchen staples that are always on hand (a post to come about that!) so that I can throw together a decent meal on little time and minimal ingredients and effort.  One of my go-to fall meals is a simple combination of toasted quinoa, butternut squash and toasted chickpeas. I decided to do a variation on this meal with some delicata squash I picked up at the market and a few frozen chicken breast I had in the freezer. I have to admit, there were a few points in the evening that I started to calculate how quickly a pizza could be delivered but the end result was just delicious! This is for sure getting added to the “fall staples” list! Delicata squash are a city chef’s dream. They’re much smaller than other fall and winter squash (save maybe acorn squash) so you’re not lugging 15 pounds of squash home and you don’t have to peel them! They’re super simple to thin slice and pan cook or roast in the oven on a foil sheet at 425 to get that delicious, caramel, melty, amazing squashey goodness!

To make this recipe vegetarian, substitute the chicken with toasted chickpeas.

Delicata Squash, Quinoa, Chicken

1 medium Delicata squash
2 chicken breast
1/2 cup dry quinoa
Fresh chopped or dried parsley
Cracked pepper to taste
Grapeseed oil

  • In a medium stock pot, toast the quinoa over medium heat, moving the quinoa in the pan, until you see it start to brown. Remove from heat, wash, place back in pan with 1 cup water, cracked pepper and fresh chopped or dried parsley. Cover and bring to a boil then turn off the heat and let it sit until the rest is ready.
  • Meanwhile, pre-heat a pan with grapeseed oil or any other high cooking heat oil. Wash Delicata squash exterior, cut in half, scrape out seeds and slice thin then add to the pre-heated pan with some fresh cracked pepper and parsley. Move in pan until lightly browned.
  • Cube the chicken and add to pan with the squash. Add cracked pepper and parsley to taste.
  • Move contents of pan chicken and squash are browned. Cut one of the pieces of chicken in half to assure it’s cooked throughout.
  • Serve in a bowl with peanut sauce, fig or stone fruit compote, or balsamic drizzle.

Chicken Marbella

My mum made this recipe while I was home a few weeks ago and I simply fell in love! The warm flavors filled the house and it was so easy to make, so I decided to try my hand and make it for my Oscars Party. It was a HIT!! This dish is great as an entree or an appetizer and is sure to impress your dinner guests! This recipe comes from The Silver Palate recipe book. Here are a few pictures to make you hungry!


Chicken Marbella

In a large bowl mix the following then marinate in fridge overnight:
2 1/2lbs Chicken (I used breasts only)
1 head of garlic, pureed or minced
1/4 c. dried oregano
Coarse Salt/Pepper to taste
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/2-1c. white wine
1/2 c. olive oil
1 c. pitted prunes
1/2 c. pitted Spanish green olives
1/2 c. capers (with a bit of juice)
6 bay leaves

To cook:
Preheat oven to 350F
Arrange chicken in single layer on shallow baking pan with marinade
Sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar
Bake 50 minutes basting with pan juices
Serve on platter with a few spoons of juice over the top and sprinkled with parsley