Simple Vegan Cream of Leek Soup

Happy Ostara, first day of Spring, and Ironically-Snowy-Day-in-YYC! :p Click here to skip the ramble and go straight to this Cream of Leek recipe

Last week, it was more spring-like. Warm, sunny and lightly breezy. Today, on the first day of spring: overcast, snowy, with freezing wind. Feeling a little trapped in my own home (because let’s be real, this west coast girl is NOT going out there), I decided to keep busy and do some pantry and fridge cleaning. That’s when I discovered some leeks I had hiding in the back of the fridge. I had meant to try a certain recipe with them when I first bought them, but somehow never collected the rest of the ingredients that I needed. They were looking kind of sad so I cleaned and chopped them up, still not knowing what to make out of them.

It was more than an hour later, after I finished organizing my pantry, that I settled on making a quick and easy creamy leek soup. There really isn’t any cream or cream-replacer in this recipe. The cream in this soup is simply a slurry of flour and water added to a rich veggie broth.

I have to credit my very first roommate for this “cream” technique. She taught me that adding flour to water and cooking it created a cream-like liquid. My mind was blown. Before I learned this, the only cream of such-and-such soups I had was out of a can.  You know, the white and red label. I thought the cream had to be real cow cream. At the time, I had no problem with that but my attempts at cream soups from scratch were always thin and way too milky tasting.

But first thing’s first: cooking down those leeks!

The leeks: before and after cooking.

These leeks were cooked down on medium heat for about 10 minutes. That’s just enough time for them to soften, break down and sweeten up.

Easy Vegan Cream of Leek Soup

2014-03-20 20:29:26

Serves 2

A simple creamy leek soup made with simple ingredients but bursting with flavour!

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

20 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

20 min

Ingredients

1. 2 cups chopped leeks, whites and light green parts only
2. 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
3. 1 tablespoon olive oil
4. 2 cups veggie broth, cold or room temperature
5. 2 1/2 tablespoons white flour
6. salt, to taste
7. pepper, to taste

Optional

1. lime juice
2. basil chiffonade to garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oil on medium heat in your soup pot.
2. Add garlic, leeks and a generous pinch of salt.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are very tender. About 10 minutes.
4. Transfer the cooked leeks to a blender, add the veggie broth and flour.
5. Blend until smooth or desired consistency.
6. Pour back into the pot and heat until bubbling, stirring constantly. About 10 minutes.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Let cool before serving.
9. Optionally, add a squeeze of lime juice to each bowl and garnish with basil chiffonade.
10. Enjoy!

Notes

1. Lemon or lime juice will add a bright dimension to this savory soup but it's great even without.

By Mary Lin

Mary's Test Kitchen https://www.marystestkitchen.com/