Mmmm, Potato soup

I think I might have given this recipe to at least a couple people...but this is one of my favorite comfort foods, lately.

Potato and Leek Soup

3 tablespoons butter
3 cups leeks, washed and chopped
4 cups peeled, diced potatoes (make sure you use a non-mealy potato, like red or white/yellow)
salt & pepper to taste
6-8 cups chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream

Melt butter and cook leeks over medium heat. Add potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add broth, bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender.
Remove and puree a portion of the soup, return to pot, and stir in cream.

That's it! Easy, huh? Now, here's some modifications I like to do: Either add more potatoes or use less broth for a thicker, chunkier soup. Keep in mind that you're pureeing a portion of the soup, which will take out a bit of the chunkiness. 4 cups potatoes to 8 cups broth just doesn't cut it for me. Also, since I'm going for absolute "YUM!!" factor here, I like to add a bunch of shredded cheddar along with the cream. I usually end up adding a good cup or more of shredded cheese. I've also added chunks of ham before, which is good, but I like it just as much, sometimes more, without the ham. You can also play around with adding a green vegetable - like chunks of green beans, or maybe asparagus. (I haven't actually tried the asparagus yet, but I had some cream of asparagus soup just a day before I had this soup, and I think the two flavors might mix very nicely!)

If you're unfamiliar with leeks, like I was before this recipe, it's not too bad. This is what a leek looks like. In my grocery store, I find them near other vegetables like celery, carrots, etc. - the section that is refrigerated and gets sprinkled with water. What I was told is to use the white part, and the lighter green parts, not the "leaves", which are pretty tough. They grow in the ground, so you may need to be extra careful between the layers as you wash them, making sure they look clean. When I chop them for this recipe, I basically slice the leek into disks, and then lay the disc flat and cut it into quarters or more, based on the size of that particular leek.

And if you just want to skip the leeks, you can substitute onions. They have very similar flavors. But leeks have some good nutritional value, too:

• Low in Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol
• High in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Manganese, Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Iron and Magnesium

Compared to onions, which are:

• Low in Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol
• High in Vitamin C, Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Folate and Manganese

Anyway, I hope you get a chance to try this soup. I really love it! :)