New Yoga Pot Soup by Green Kitchen Stories

I am obsessed with this delicious soup. Make it!

The New Yoga Pot
Serves 4-6

1 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil, ghee or olive oil
1 yellow onion, 
finely chopped2 cloves garlic, 
finely chopped2 tbsp fresh ginger, 
finely chopped or 1 tsp ground2 tbsp fresh turmeric, 
finely chopped or 1 tsp ground1 pinch ground cayenne pepper or more to taste
3,5 cups / 800 ml canned plum tomatoes1/2 cup / 
125 ml uncooked red lentils, rinsed
2 cups / 500 ml water
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
1 fennel, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
1 handful green beans1 cup / 400 ml cooked butter beans

For serving
fresh coriander/cilantro, chopped
plain yogurt

Heat oil in a large saucepan and add chopped onion and garlic. Lower the heat and cook for a few minutes until the onions have softened. Add ginger, turmeric, cayenne and stir, ensuring that they do not burn. When the spices smell fragrant, add tomatoes, lentils, water and salt. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in all the vegetables and cook for another 8-10 minutes. Add the cooked beans toward the end of the cooking time. Serve in bowls with a dollop of yogurt and fresh coriander/cilantro. This dish can also be served with brown, black or red rice, if you prefer.

https://greenkitchenstories.com/the-new-yoga-pot/

French Onion Soup by Jerri Manthey, CDKitchen Staff

I absolutely love french onion soup. My favorite in town is at the Capital Grill in Downtown Minneapolis. However, it is beef based which I am always willing to forget when I have the craving…. Their shoestring fries are also amazing especially when you dip them in their crazy delicious béarnaise sauce. The soup and fries there make the most amazing little lunch; it's a very sodium enriched one too, but who cares. 

For some reason, I always imagined that french onion soup would be difficult to make. In all reality, not a whole lot of recipes are "hard" to make if you even know a little about general cooking techniques. I guess I just did not imagine that a veggie based french onion soup would be even good since the beef based version is the benchmark. 

My husband's mom made this particular recipe first and when she told me that she was making french onion soup for us, I have to admit that I was very skeptical. After one bite, I was hooked and could not wait to make it again. It comes from CDKitchen and here is the link.

So, if you are in the mood for this mind altering dish, this is the simple recipe to use.

Cheers to onions and cheese!!! (BTW, If I had larger slices of cheese to cover the entire bowl, that is what I would have used so that you get those crispy bits, mentioned below, to bake on the rim of the bowl. Also, don't worry if you do not have oven-ready bowls. I just used what I had and since you are broiling for such a short amount of time, it's really no big whoop.

What you Need:

3 ounces butter
1 pound large white onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 quart vegetable stock (see note)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
garlic powder (also add some with the broth, about two shakes or so)
6 slices crusty French bread (or use twice as many smaller slices)
grated fresh Parmesan cheese
slices aged Swiss cheese (as needed to cover)

Directions:

Melt butter in a large saucepan/pot. Add the onions and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for about 20 minutes until they become soft and golden. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 2 minutes. 

Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over very low heat 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Toast one side of the bread slices under the broiler, flip over, drizzle olive oil, shake garlic powder lightly, sprinkle parmesan cheese on them and broil again until cheese is melted.

Divide the slices among individual small flameproof soup bowls. If the bread is small, you can place one and half or two pieces on the bottom. Pour the soup into the bowls, sprinkle more parmesan on top and lay slices of Swiss cheese to cover the entire opening of the bowl.

It's better if you let the cheese hang slightly over the edge so that it melts to the bowl and makes crusty cheese pieces to pick off (my personal favorite).

Serve immediately.

Note from recipe: SPECIAL NOTE FOR VEGETABLE STOCK: The best way to make this stock is with "Better Than Boullion" brand vegetable base. It has a ton of flavor and is the only one I ever use.

I actually like Knorr's vegetable broth bouillon cubes way better than "Better than Boullion". Just saying'.

Spicy Carrot Fennel Soup by Colleen Guenther

Hi all! If you know anything about me, I love food and I especially love soup. This is another one to add to the repertoire as it took a turn to the spicy side while I was making it. I wanted to add an herb to the ever "normal" carrot fennel soup, and parsley just made sense. But then I thought, since I had already added cumin in there, "why not cilantro"? I then tried a tad of that in the broth (on the side while I was cooking it) along with a hint of lemon juice and I really liked it. I then thought, let's add some spice, because I was craving it, and tried a tish of jalapeno in it to keep it interesting and it worked! I REALLY, REALLY liked it! Let's see what you think:


What you Need:
3 cups chopped carrots
1 fennel bulbs sliced
3 cups veggie broth (as always, I ALWAYS use Knoor Vegetable Boullion Cubes - nothing beats them)
4 - 1/8" slices of jalapeño (more if you want it spicier)
1 white onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
4 pinches cumin
cilantro
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

Sautee your carrots, onion, fennel and garlic in a tad bit of olive oil on medium for about 8 minutes or until your onions are a bit soft. Then, add your broth. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add your cumin, jalapeños and a dash of salt and pepper. Then, bring back down to a simmer and simmer until the carrots are soft which will take about 30 minutes. When done, cool a tad, puree and add additional salt and pepper to taste. When serving, top with finely chopped cilantro and fresh lemon juice. ENJOY!

Swiss Chard Cilantro Soup by Colleen Guenther (with some inspiration)

You may be scratching your head thinking, why the heck is Recipe Co-op posting a soup in this heat?  Well, it's simple. I've turned on the air conditioning and it's all of a sudden soup season, inside;) The inspiration came from Surdyk's Cheese shop in NE Mpls. They had a very similar soup today in the deli and it was so delicious that I had to take a stab at it. BTW, Surdyks has an amazing deli if you have not tried it. The soups, in particular, are amazing and the flavors are always different than your average choice of tomato or chicken noodle.... Actually, if they had a tomato or chicken noodle soup, you can bet that it is the best you've ever had.

I went online to see if there was a recipe for a similar soup and came across this one from http://www.kilpatrickfamilyfarm.com. Apparently it is from the recipe book “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison. What I loved about this soup is the complexity of spices. I hardly ever cook with Coriander but love when I can experiment with different ingredients and seasonings to widen my base of fantastic flavor profile pairings. I also added a lot more heat be adding some jalapenos and cayenne  to the mix to kick up the spice factor along with garlic and a titch more cumin to add a bit more complexity. I was in the mood for a Mexican-y dinner tonight anyways.

Well, if it's too hot outside, and inside, to make this delicious soup now, definitely save this recipe and try it out another time, you won't regret it.

What You Need:

2 bunches of Swiss Chard (de-stememd, washed and chopped)
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 Onion diced
1 russet potato peeled and diced
1 Jalapeno minced
2 TBS tomato paste
2 TSP Cumin
1 TSP Coriander
1 bunch of cilantro
3 cloves garlic minced
2 pinches of Cayenne
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Sour Cream as a topper
Juice of a lime

Directions:

Heat your olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, then, add your diced onions, potatoes, carrots and garlic. Stir those around for about 5 minutes. Then, add your tomato paste, coriander, jalapeno, cumin, cilantro, cayenne and swiss chard along with a dash of salt. Mix those around for a couple of minutes and until the swiss chard leaves tame down a bit. Then, add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, simmer until your potatoes are soft (around 15-20 minutes). Then, with an immersion blender, blend about 1/2 of the soup leaving some "texture" left in the soup. When done, ladle soup in a soup bowl and top with a dollop of sour cream and small squeeze of a lime. ENJOY!

Fresh Ginger Garlic Thai Soup by Colleen Guenther

My husband and I wax and wane on Asian food. He either loves it and I'm through with it, or, I am in love with it and he grumbles at the idea of it for any meal. Well, needless to say, we are in the latter situation. This is a solution to the problem!! It's not too Asiany but super fresh and uber, duber healthy. Beware though, thai chilis are hot as is the chili garlic sauce.... that's the way I prefer it though.

As I'm sure you've heard, ginger and garlic are some of the super healing foods: garlic is a natural antibiotic and ginger cures everything;)... So, during this flu season, let's heal our bodies with quasi-Asian food;) Seriously though, let's eat more GOOD food so that we need less medicine. It's that simple.

What you Need:

For the Stock:
8 cups of water
1/4 cup sliced and de-peeled ginger
2 carrots chopped
3 celery stock chopped
De-peeled and squashed (to release the goodness) garlic cloves from a full bulb
1 handful of cilantro stems
2 cups of mushrooms (shitake preferred) chopped or sliced in half
1 sliced full white onion
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 lemon grass stock cut into one inch slices and smashed with a knife to release it's goodness
1-4 thai chilies chopped depending on the heat you want

For the Soup:
2 carrots de-peeled and sliced (thin)
5 scallions chopped
1/2 head of napa cabbage or regular cabbage finely sliced
1/2 Tbs. Chili Garlic Sauce (See below for picture)

Toppings:
Thin Rice Noodles
Fresh bean sprouts
Chopped cilantro
Fresh squeezed lime juice
Scallions
Golden Mountain Seasoning (See below for picture)
Extra Chili Garlic Sauce

Directions:

Place all of your stock ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring it back down to a mid-low and simmer, covered, for 1.5 hours. Once done, drain stock into a separate bowl or pot and discard the rest of the ingredients. You can either make your complete soup right after this step or save/freeze your stock for another time. I put mine in the fridge to let it marinate and completed my soup the following day. Whenever you decide to make the complete soup, put it in a pot, add your carrots, cabbage and scallions. Feel free to add more if you'd like as this is definitely a tasting soup. Taste it throughout the whole process to decide if you'd like to add/subtract any ingredients. Actually all cooking should be done this way...LOL. Again, bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring back down to a simmer, cover and cook for about 25 minutes or until the carrots are semi-soft. In the meantime, cook your rice noodles to the package's directions. When ready to serve, dish up your soup, add any or all of the listed toppings, including the rice noodles. I recommend all of them. 

On a product related note....The Golden Mountain Seasoning adds more of an Asian flair (I always use it over soy sauce) so hold back if your hubby is not in the mood... The chili garlic sauce is amazing in almost everything so don't feel bad about purchasing both of these amazing products. You can add them to ANYTHING or EVERYTHING! Seriously. Enjoy!

Roasted Poblano Bean Soup by Colleen Guenther

Soup again? Well, heck ya! This one has a tiny bit of heat but is also paired with BIG flavor! The heat kick and the goat cheese are fantastic buddies and will keep you coming back for more. My husband keeps talking about it and has reported that it is his favorite soup. Try it and be HAPPY! 

• 
  
• 1 - 15oz can of white beans rinsed and drained
• 1 - 15oz can of cannelinni beans rinsed and drained
• 6 poblano peppers (de-stemmed after roasting)
• 2 cups vegetable broth (I prefer Knorr vegetable bouillon cubes to make mine)
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• Avocado oil
• 1 large onion 
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 cup fresh or canned corn (drained)
• ½ cup chopped cilantro, extra for garnish
• Juice from 1 lime
• ¼ cup low-fat milk
• 2 oz. fresh goat cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• Avocado if desired for topping

Directions: 

First, roast your poblano peppers at 400 for 15 minutes. Slice two of them into fine strips and set aside. With the other 4 peppers, put them in a bowl and add 2 cups of vegetable broth. Then, use an immersion blender to mince them up in the broth.  When done, sautee your onions and garlic in a tish bit of avocado oil until slightly browned. Then, add your sliced peppers and mexican oregano and cook for another couple of minutes. Add your pepper broth, cumin, and beans (salt and pepper if you'd like) and simmer on medium for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add your corn, cilantro and lime juice and simmer for another couple of minutes. 

In a separate bowl, warm up your milk and once warmed, add your goat cheese to make a silky sauce. Finally, dish up your soup and top with the goat cheese sauce and extra cilantro.  You could even add sliced avocado if you desire. YUM! 

Pasilla Pepper and Kale Soup by Colleen Guenther

Well, since we are on a soup roll, let's keep on truckin'! If I may say so myself, this is the best soup I have ever made. There's really not much to the broth yet it tastes so good.  It's really quite crazy. Really. Now get cookin'!

What you Need:

Soup Base:
8 dried pasilla peppers (de-stemmed)

2 large tomato
5 garlic cloves
6 cups vegetable broth (I used the vegetable buillon cubes from Knorr)
1 large white onion
1 bunch of kale de-veined and loosely chopped
1 TBS olive oil

0-5 dried Chile de Arbol (add amount depending on heat level desired)

Salt to taste

Toppings:
1 handful chopped cilantro chopped
1 avocado sliced
1 lime squeeze
Queso Fresco crumbled

Directions:

First, toast your peppers in a sautee pan on medium (no oil) for a minute or two - Do not burn them. Then, fill up a small pot with water, add the dried peppers and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat. Soak them, covered, in the hot water for 30 minutes. While your peppers are soaking, roast 3 garlic cloves (keep 2 of them out) and the tomatos in the oven at 400degrees for 25 minutes.  Right before your peppers and tomatos are done, sautee your onions and your other 2 cloves of garlic in 1 TBS olive oil for about 8 minutes or until your onions are slightly translucent. Then, when your peppers are hydrated and your tomato and garlic are roasted, add them all to a food processor with one cup of the vegetable broth (be sure to de-core your tomato and de-peel your garlic). Once well blended and your onions are sautéed, run the pepper mixture through a fine strainer and strain your mixture into your onions. Squeeze out as much juice as you possibly can. I like to stir a wooden spoon in the strainer to help push out the juice. Once most of the juice is strained into the onion mixture, you can then discard the rest of the mixture that is left in the strainer. Then, cook on medium, your pepper, tomato, garlic onion mix for about 5 minutes to darken and thicken. After the 5 minutes, add the rest of the vegetable broth (5 cups) and bring to a boil. Also add as many arbols as you desire at this point. Salt to taste. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer on med-low (uncovered) for 30 minutes. 5 minutes before it is done, add your kale and cook for the rest of the 5 minutes. Finally ladle your soup into a bowl and top with the fresh cilantro, avocado, queso fresco and a squeeze of lime. ENJOY!

Creamy Wild Rice Soup by Colleen Guenther

Well, I guess I am on a soup roll this month! Who could blame me when soups are not only mega delicious but also leave you with some left overs to enjoy in the days to come. Personally, I'm not really a left-overs fan but soups truly transcend that idea (as do lasagnas). Now, let's discuss the main ingredient of this soup. Wild Rice! I LOVE wild rice and the fall always encourages me to cook something with it. I know wild rice soup isn't really that epic in terms of originality but it's epic in terms of taste so who gives a darn. YUM, let's eat!!!!!

What you Need:
4 cups vegetable broth
3 Cups cooked wild rice
1/2 cup half and half
6 TBS butter
3 stalks of celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 large white onion chopped
1/2 flour
salt and pepper

Directions:

Melt your butter in a soup pot and sautee your onion, carrots, celery and garlic for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are a bit soft (keep covered while you sautee). Then, fold in your flour and when mixed in, pour in your broth. Stir vigorously until the mixture comes to a boil. Then bring back to a low simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. Right before you serve, add your half and half, if desired, and ENJOY!

Kale and Lentil Soup by Colleen Guenther

This soup is superb! It's ultra healthy and easy to make. I mean, all you really need to do is chop some stuff up, throw it in with some other stuff and voila, you've got an amazing meal!;) Try it!

What you Need:

6 cups vegetable broth

1 cup dried lentils, rinsed

3 small carrots, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

3-5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 bay leaf

1/2 a pack of fresh thyme leaves

3/4 bunch kale, stemmed, rinsed, chopped (about 2-3 cups)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Sautee your onions, garlic, carrots and celery in a pot for about 5 minutes. Then, add the rest of  your ingredients, except for the kale. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Then, stir in your kale and cook, partially covered, until lentils and carrots are tender and kale wilts, about 10 minutes longer. Then, take out your bay leave and thyme sprigs (what is left of them). Enjoy!

Spicy Squash Soup by Abby Wyckoff

This is an extra tasty, spicy and delicious squash soup, unlike the one that grandma used to make! This one has kick and it is exactly what you need for this time of year.

What you Need:

1 large squash diced

1 apple diced

1 onion diced

2 carrots chopped

water

salt and pepper 

cilantro chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

1 jalapeno minced

2 shallots minced

Directions:

Sautee your onions in olive oil for 5-10 minutes until soft. Add your squash, apple and carrot and sautee for another 8 minutes. Then, add water (you could do vegetable broth also) to come to the top of the ingredients in your pot and bring to a boil. Once boiled, bring down to a simmer and simmer for 25-30 minutes until your squash is soft. When done, take off the heat and blend all of your ingredients in a blender or vitamix. Pour your mixture back into your sautee pan and add your cilantro, jalapeno, shallots and garlic and simmer for a minute or two. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve. For extra fun, make some croutons and serve on top!

Roasted Tomato Soup by my (second) Love Rick Bayless

This soup is a gem. I mean, how could it not be when the Godly Rick Bayless came up with it. I would recommend keeping the habanero seeds out. It's spicy but not too over the top. Just enough to clean your sinuses. I served it with a veggie panini and also put fresh mozzarella right on the panini grill to make a little fried cheese. YUM! It was like a homestyle version of the ever fabulous cheese curd. Make it!

What you Need:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
salt
1 medium celeriac (celery root) small dice, about 2 cups
2 to 3 medium carrots, small dice, about 1 cup
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 28 ounce cans diced fire roasted tomatoes (we prefer Muir Glen)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups vegetable broth
1 habanero chile, stemmed
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2 to 3 tablespoons honey

Optional: 1 pound grilled or sauteed shrimp

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the olive oil into a large stockpot set over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook for about 7 minutes or until the onions have begun to brown around the edges. Scoop in the celeriac, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and continue cooking, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until the carrots begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 additional minute.

Add the tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, vegetable broth, habanero and potato. Stir until everything is well combined. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the temperature to medium and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft. Using either a countertop blender or immersion blender, puree the soup. If you're using a countertop blender, you'll need to do this in batches, taking care not to overfill the blender jar.

Return the pureed soup to the pot, stirring in the parsley, 1 tablespoon salt and honey. I'm using honey here to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. Simmer the soup for 5 minutes so that all the flavors have a chance to meld, then taste for final seasoning. If you're using the shrimp, add them to the individual bowls as they're being served.

Bean and Chard Soup by Colleen Guenther inspired by Soups Magazine

This soup is a keeper! My husband devoured it! It takes a while to make but it is worth every minute:)

What you need:
5 ounces dried red kidney beans
5 ounces dried garbanzo beans
5 ounces dried split peas, rinsed and drained
5 ounces lentils, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons salt
10 cups water
8 ounces swiss chard, chopped
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
1 medium white onion chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
Salt
Black pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

\
Rinse kidney and garbanzo beans. Place beans in a 4-5-quart dutch oven; add enough water to cover them. Cover and let soak over night.
Drain and rinse the beans. Return kidney and garbanzo beans to dutch oven. Stir in split peas, lentils and 2 tsp of salt. Add water. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Stir in chard, celery, onion, garlic, and fennel seeds. Return to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 1 hour more or until beans are very tender. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. ENJOY!

Vegetable Stock by Colleen Guenther inspired by Soups Magazine

I have been making a lot of soup lately and I am starting to feel like all veggie stocks that come in a cube, can or box do not help make my soups taste better. In fact, many of the pre-made stocks out there actually RUIN my soups. So, here is a delicious recipe to make your own. I made 16 cups which you can freeze for future use. The broth that comes out of this is just HEAVEN. Heck, I could just sip on it as is and forget all about the soup...

What you need:
16 cups of water
5 carrots
6 celery sticks with the leaves
2 parsnips
4 potatoes
8 yellow onions
1 box of mushrooms
1TSP dried basil
1 TSP of dried rosemary
1 TSP of whole black peppercorns
1.5 TSP of salt

Directions:

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and simmer 2 hours. Drain using a cheese cloth.

Potato Cauliflower Leek Soup by Colleen Guenther

It's that time to pull out old or discover new soup recipes. This one is a gem and I have made it several times, perfecting it each and every time. Try it!

What You Need:

4 medium leeks
3/4 bag of baby red potatoes cut into small chunks
1/2 head of cauliflower
6 cups vegetable stock
2 fresh sage leaves
2 fresh rosemary stick
2 bay leaves
Large handful of parsley chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 Tbs of butter
1-2 Tbs Olive Oil

Directions:

Cut the dark green top off each leek, reserving only the white and very light green segment for the recipe. Slice them thinly and put in a large bowl of water. Separate the leeks with your fingers in the water to get rid of the grit. Strain.
Melt 2 tbs the butter and 1 tbs of Olive Oil in a stock pot set to medium. Once the butter has melted, toss in the leeks and sauté, stirring occasionally, until well softened, about 7 or 8 minutes.
As the leeks are sauteeing, chop your cauliflower and place in a roasting pan with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and your chopped garlic. Roast on 375 for 30 minutes.
Once the leeks are done, add the potatoes, stock, rosemary (whole), sage (whole), bay leaves (whole) as well as a pinch of salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer.
Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or so, or until the potatoes are softened.
Add the cauliflower and simmer for another 10 minutes. After that is done, take out your rosemary, bay leaves and sage and puree 1/2 of the mixture in a blender. Once blended, add it to the rest of your unblended soup. Add your chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Spring Vegetable Soup by Colleen Guenther

I generally do not view soup as a springtime meal idea, but this one is made just for this time of year. It's light, healthy (to ensure that the waistline doesn't explode into that post holiday position) and well, quick and fresh. It is a soup that, once again, my German father-in-law created and makes quite often. Not much is needed except for a bunch of veggies and a side of your favorite dipping bread (which is sometimes needed to offset all of the healthiness going on).

What you need (make as much as you want):

Brussel Sprouts quartered

Cabbage loosely chopped

Fingerling Potatoes quartered

White onion chopped

Celery sliced

Carrot sliced

Water

Directions:

Put all in a pot and fill with water up to the line of the veggies. Boil for about a half hour until the potatoes are soft but not mushy. Who likes mushy??? Add a dash of salt and pepper if necessary. Serve and ENJOY!

Potato Leek Soup by Colleen Guenther

Here is a recipe that I have created for Potato Leek Soup. It is simply amazing!!!!!!! I really owe it all to the Bouquet Garni!!!

What you need:

3 tbls of olive oil

1/2 stick butter

Bouquet Garni (in a cheese cloth wrap 6 fresh rosemary stems, handful of italian flat-leafed parsley, teaspoon of whole black peppercorns and two bay leaves)

6 leeks (chop and use the white parts and a little of the light green parts)

4 scallions chopped

4 shallots

4 stalks celery chopped

6 cloves of garlic

2.5lbs of buttercream potatoes (I bought the 2lb bags and cut up 1 1/3 bags in 1/2 cubes)

32 oz. of chicken or vegetable stock

water

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Sautee the leeks, scallions, shallots, celery and garlic in the olive oil and butter until soft: 4-6 minutes

Once that is done, add the potatoes, stock, water and bouquet garni (I LOVE BOUQUET GARNIS!!!!)

You may be asking "how much water do I put in"? Well, once you put the potatoes in, add the chicken stock and if it doesn't fully cover them in the pot, add water until it does.

Bring to a boil and once it boils, bring it back down to a low simmer. Cook for about 40 minutes stirring when you please to take in the awesome aroma!

Once the potatoes are soft, remove the garni and puree 1/2 of the soup. Once pureed, add it back to the rest of the soup and add the cream and milk. Salt and pepper to taste.

You may be asking, "what would go magnificently with this soup"? Caraway Bread Grilled cheese sandwiches set this soup off just right. I buy some premium caraway bread, put a little butter on each side and place a slice or two of Jarlsberg Swiss cheese in the middle. Sautee until browned on each side. Truly amazing with this soup. Even so much that I've thought of putting caraway IN the soup. If you are so brave to try that, let me know if it's good!!!

                                                          ENJOY!!!!