Run Plant Based

Formerly The Raw Project - Running on a Healthy Vegan Diet

Basic Potato Leek Soup

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Things are a little chaotic with the pet bed situation in front of the fireplace. We gifted the pups with new beds for Christmas, but Leela still loves her old mushroom shaped bed even though she dug off most of the soft layer and it’s looking a little ratty.

I tried to relocate it to another room, but she stands by the other beds and pouts because her favorite is missing.

Miko is not so picky about beds, he’s happy in any of them as long as he has his favorite toy.

And I’m happy on a chilly winter’s night with thick potato soup. Leeks are such an under-appreciated veggie in this house because I keep forgetting to add them to my shopping list and am usually drawing a blank on what to do with them when I get them in the farm box. I don’t know why, they’re awesome with a mild onion flavor and bring many dishes to life after dry sauteing or roasting. But for me they really shine in potato leek soup and that’s pretty much the only thing I want to make when I do have them on hand.

While I was looking for recipe inspiration for the soup, I was floored at all the variations there are to turn simple potatoes and leeks into an unhealthy nightmare! Many recipes called for bacon, cups of heavy cream, cups of butter, oil, etc. Ick! And sauteing the leeks in plenty of oil before adding into the soup. No, ick! This recipe is simpler celebrating the two staring ingredients without tons of oil and cream and I got to flex my new dry-sauteing skills thanks to the Rouxbe Forks Over Knives cooking program. Turns out leeks do not need oil to bring out the flavor while cooking and light flax milk is perfect for adding a creamy texture instead of heavy cream.

Basic Potato Leek Soup

  • 4 cups veggie broth
  • 4 cups chopped potatoes (russet or variety of choice)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 leeks, sliced
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced
  • 2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used flax milk)
  • liquid smoke to taste (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat a large pot to medium heat, add leeks and dry saute until translucent with a little char and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Add potatoes, celery, veggie broth, and bay leaf and boil for 15 to 20 minutes until potatoes are soft.
  3. Remove bay leaf, add flax milk, and blend with an immersion blender to desired creamy texture.
  4. Simmer on low for about 15-20 minutes to thicken and stir in liquid smoke if desired.
  5. Serve and enjoy. Makes 4 servings
  6. Optional: Add vegan bacon.

Dry roasting can be a little nerve racking the first few times you try it because it looks like you’re just burning the food and creating a nightmare to clean. But it works, I promise.

And it’s very simple to do in the same pot before adding in the soup ingredients.

I did add a splurge ingredient to this because I wanted to try it – I chopped a few slices of Sweet Earth’s Benevolent Vegan Bacon and toasted over medium heat.

The pieces had a smokey savory flavor and got nice and crispy for the soup.

But you can also add a smokey flavor by stirring in a drizzle of liquid smoke. The soup came out great, so thick and rich it was almost like mashed potatoes and very hearty and satisfying.

Perfect winter dinner.

Comments

  2. This looks yummy Christine! Today at work we were using up all the leftover ingredients and I tried to make a cabbage and potato stew…except the cabbage was purple, so the stew was blue! I thought it looked AWESOME! Other people…not so much =P

  3. I could seriously go for a bowlful of that soup right about now. Looks like we have a number of rainy days ahead again, so that recipe will definitely come in handy!

  4. Haha, your pups stories always make me smile. My pups can be stubborn when they want something too.

    Your soup looks amazing! Loving the added vegan bacon strips. It’s sad how people can make anything unhealthy, but it’s so great to have you making things healthier for us. :)

    • They are so great at that! Thanks on the soup and the vegan bacon was excellent blended in and excellent on salads too. So true, I was floored that some recipe called for an entire cup of oil and cream – awful.