Cascadian Farm Organic Goodness

I have a bit of a potato leek soup obsession. My own brand happens to create its own broth and then get blended together into smooth, creamy perfection. Then I went to San Francisco this fall where I was served a bowl of potato leek soup just lightly drizzled with truffle oil. No pulsing blender. No cream. Again, perfection.

Whether it's the leeks or the potatoes that call to me in this soup, it's one that I find myself going back to again and again. This heartier version (read: unblended) incorporates a healthy dose of spinach for an extra nutritional boost, which is always needed and welcome in the midst of the winter.

Potato Leek and Spinach Soup

3 leeks

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

2 quarts of water

1/2 cup white wine

bunch of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

3 cups baby spinach leaves

1 teaspoon white pepper

salt to taste

Truffle oil, optional

Cut off the root end and the very top of the dark green end of the leeks. Slice the white and light green portion of the leeks thinly. The dark green portion can be left longer for easier removal from the stock. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in leeks and sauté for 10 minutes until soft. Add garlic and stir once. Pour in water and the reserved green tops from the leeks. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes.

Wash and dice the potatoes, leaving skins in place. Remove the long dark green tops from the pot. Add in the potatoes, white wine, bay leaves and thyme. Simmer for 45 minutes until potatoes are tender and starting to fall apart at the edges. Stir in spinach 5 minutes prior to serving and stir to wilt. Serve warm and drizzled with truffle oil if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

As soon as I woke up this morning I knew it would be a soup day. It was cold and rainy and I was feeling a little off, groggy. After a full morning of chasing my enthusiastic toddler, I was exhausted and achy. As much as I wanted to lay down when he did for his nap, I knew I would be happy come 5 o’clock if I had dinner already made. I always crave hearty soups and stews on “cold days” - either cold outside or when I feel a cold coming on and today was both. So I decided to make one of my stand bys – lentil soup. It’s easy, delicious and calls for ingredients I always have on hand. About an hour later, I sat down to enjoy a bowl and recharge…just as my son woke up. But that’s okay, later we enjoyed a bowl together and it gave me the fuel I needed to get through the rest of the day.

Lentil Soup

• 1 large organic yellow onion, chopped
• 4 organic carrots, cut in half lengthwise then chopped
• 2-3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons organic tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme
• 3 ½ cups of reduced-sodium free range organic chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 3 strips bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (can be omitted for vegetarians, substitute 1 tbsp of olive oil to cook onions & carrots)

1. In a large pot with a lid, cook bacon until browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain grease, reserving 1 tablespoon in pot.
2. Add onion and carrots to bacon; cook until softened. Stir in garlic. Add tomato paste, and cook 1 minute.
3. Add thyme, lentils, chicken broth, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook 30-45 minutes until lentils are tender.

Stir in vinegar, season with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. Serve with crusty bread – I love it with multi-grain sourdough.

Photo by Kari Burks

It's getting colder. I can tell by the layer of white fluff that covers the ground, and when the wind turns cold, my mind turns to soup. It's only natural. Hot beverages, soup, dishes baked for an hour or more to help warm you from the inside as the wind howls outside.

With the holidays approaching, I urge you to consider soup as the first course. So often overlooked at the holidays, overshadowed by promises of green bean casserole, roasts and your mom's famous pies, soup has been a classic first course for years, and serving it at your holiday meal will add a bit of elegance to what can sometimes feel like a harried event.

Or just eat it for lunch like I did.

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Curried Soup

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2" chunks

¼ cup olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

1 tablespoon garam masala

½ teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon turmeric

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup dry red lentils

1 teaspoon kosher salt

5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup of coconut milk

1/2 cup of water

Preheat oven to 350º F. In a medium bowl, toss sweet potatoes and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Spread onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Bake for one hour or until fork tender.

About 30 minutes into the sweet potato cooking time in a medium saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in diced onion and sauté for 5 minutes until onions start to sweat and become tender. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds more. Add in garam masala, coriander, cumin, turmeric and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds. Add in lentils and stock. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

When sweet potatoes are done, mash lightly and add to the soup. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender (or cooling slightly and using a regular blender or food processor), mix soup until smooth and no lumps remain. Add in coconut milk and simmer over medium-low heat for five minutes.

Serve warm with a dollop of Greek-style yogurt or sour cream.

Makes 4 servings.

Photo by Shaina Olmanson

For me winter wouldn't be complete without a few good soups...or perhaps more than a few.  There is no better way to warm up on a cold winter day than with a cup of soup in hand, as it warms you straight down to your gut.  If not the main course, soups provide the perfect starter to ease you in to a hearty meal as well.

If you remember, I was just waxing poetic on the virtues of overwinter leeks, but then I left you waiting for an actual soup recipe to use them in and only provided you with a way to turn the parts of the leek you wouldn't use into a broth.  I intend to rectify that today.  A simple leek and onion bisque will make use of all the vegetables we didn't use when we made our vegetable broth.

This soup would make a fantastic starter to a grass-fed braised pot roast dinner, but it makes a meal of itself when paired with a loaf of homemade bread.  It's a winter offering of warmth in a cup.

Leeks are a fantastic vegetable in the winter time because they can be left in the ground until you're ready to eat them. They're a near essential in winter soups. Paired with a broth, a few other vegetables and a bit of cream to fill you up, leeks are sure to become a staple on your winter comfort food list.

What I don't like about leeks and particularly leeks in soups is that most recipes are only looking for the white and light green portion of the leek, discarding the rest.  In fact, most things that require peeling and pitting and seeding and juicing seem wasteful to me.  I like to repurpose.  The good news is that you can salvage the dark green portions along with your other vegetable waste and turn it into a flavorful vegetable broth that will act as the base for those same soups.

Start with the dark green portion of your leek.  Then chop both ends off of a large sweet onion, peel and save both the ends and the papery skin.  Chop half of it.  Remove the leafy tops and the bottom root ball of the celery.  Crush 8 to 10 cloves of garlic.

After heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large stockpot, add all of the vegetable scraps aside from the onion ends and skin and the celery root ball.  We can add those later.  Sauté the roughly chopped vegetables for 10 minutes until they sweat and soften up.

These days, it seems that everyone's got a bone to pick with corn. Whether it be discussions about ethanol and the amount of energy used to produce it, the fact that so much of the corn we grow in the Midwest is inedible for humans (thanks to the movie "King Corn" helping to bring that point home in a big way), the fact that it's fed to animals who should be eating grass, or the fact that corn is transformed into corn syrup and guzzled down by the 6-pack, it can be hard for us to remember how incredibly delicious sweet corn really is. We're in the midst of corn growing season right now, and I'm pretty sure I'm eating the tastiest stuff ever - no butter required. We're grilling it by the bushel these days, and consuming it in as many ways as we can. Jalapeno corn bread? Check! Polenta? Check! Corn ice cream with honey? Check!