Leek and Cremini Mushroom Soup

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

I decided to give leeks another try this week. I've not always been a huge fan, as you can see from this post. But, I'm growing up (about time) and decided I needed to give the mighty leek another chance.

My chance came when I walked through my local farmer's market this weekend and spied a pile of leeks. Now was as good a time as any to give this a go. Right next to the leeks, I spotted some lovely cremini mushrooms for sale. I thought for a moment and knew that I could make a good soup out of these, with some little additions from my kitchen.

I chose to enhance the cremini mushroom flavor with mushroom broth. And, I used bread to thicken the soup, as I've done many times in other soups. I figured this way, the flavor of the leeks and mushrooms would really take center stage.

The soup, I must say, came out pretty tasty. It's very simple to make, since all you're really doing is cooking the cut up leeks in broth while you saute the mushrooms in oil. Not much too it, but the flavors are really nice and earthy. Very Spring-is-in-the-air type of dish.

This recipe has proven to me that I need to not be so stubborn about my likes and dislikes and at least get creative with an ingredient I had long-ago written off.

Long live the might leek.

Leek Soup

Cook’s note:  The recipe can be easily double or tripled, dependent on the amount of people you are feeding. 1 cup of leeks was the equivalent of two medium sized leeks cut into rounds.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup of leeks, cut into rounds
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 1 cup mushroom broth
  • ½ tablespoon minced basil leaves, or ¼ tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 slice gluten-free sandwich bread, cubed (I like Udi's)
  • 1/3 cup cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  • Place the vegetable stock over high heat in a large saucepan.
  • Add the leeks and boil until soft, about 20 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, add the sandwich bread to the soup. It should thicken the soup right up.
  • While the leeks are cooking, sautee the cremini mushrooms in the olive oil with some salt, over medium heat until crispy.
  • Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.
  • Put the soup, basil and oil from the mushroom pan into a blender and blend until smooth.
  • Serve the soup in bowls with the crispy mushrooms on top.

Jalapeno Butternut Squash Soup Featured: DailyBuzz Healthy Living

Hey, thanks, DailyBuzz Healthy Living for featuring my Jalapeno Butternut Squash Soup on their Top 9 today.

Today's my birthday, so what a nice thing to find in my inbox!

If you'd like to make this delicious soup yourself, click here.

Butternut Squash Jalapeno Soup

That's kind of a strange color for butternut squash soup, huh?

Well that's because it's got jalapeno and sage added to it.

I may have overdone the jalapeno a bit, thus the extra green color, but the flavor is really nice.

I didn't used to like soups like this. My favorite soups feature meat (usually ham or bacon) and it was kind of a hard sell for me to embrace this fully vegan soup. The turning point for me was that roasting the squash was so easy. It's the kind of thing you can throw in a pan in five minutes, with any number of herbs and spices, and then just put in the oven and forget about it for an hour or so. Once it's cooked and cooled all you have to do it scrape the meat out of the skin of the squash and puree all the good bits from the bottom of the roasting pan.

For this version, I roasted the jalapenos right alongside the squash. The only issue with that is that they don't get as crunchy as they do when I pan fry them, so there wasn't anything to use as garnish in the end. To thicken the soup, I used almonds and almond milk, but if you have any kind of problem with nuts, just leave them out, it's plenty thick on it's own.

Best of all, this is completely vegan and gluten free. For those of you who are trying hard to get back on the right track post-New Year's celebrations, give this soup a try.

Butternut Squash Soup with Jalapeno and Sage

serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 large Butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
  • 2 Jalapeno peppers, cut into rings (remove the seeds if you want to avoid too much spice)
  • 1 Shallot, diced
  • 1 small Red Onion, diced
  • 4 sprigs Sage, shredded
  • 2 cloves Garlic, peeled but not chopped
  • 4 Tbsps Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 10 Almonds (optional)
  • 1/8 cup Almond Milk (optional)

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees
  • Position the squash cut side up in a roasting pan large enough to fit both halves of the butternut squash without them touching.
  • Place the sage and garlic in the cavity of the squash.
  • Add some of the olive oil and salt and pepper.
  • Flip over the squash. You may need to move the garlic and herbs a bit to get them to fit back into the cavity no that the squash is skin side up.
  • Place the jalapenos, onions and shallots in between the two halves of the squash.
  • Drizzle remainder of olive oil over the top of all the ingredients.
  • Roast everything for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the squash, until a knife easily goes through the meat.
  • Once the squash is cool, scrape out the meat.
  • Take everything left in the roasting pan and the meat of the squash and place them in a food processor. Add the almonds and almond milk (optional).
  • Pulse until the texture you desire is reached.

Enjoy!