Cream-less Cream of Broccoli Leek Soup

Cream-less Cream of Broccoli and Leek Soup

INGREDIENTS

4 cups broccoli, chopped

1 ½ cups leeks, half moons

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup red bell pepper

½ cup Poblano chili, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 – 1 ½ teaspoon Salt

Pepper (optional to taste)

Garnish Suggestions below

METHOD

1. Prep all your vegetables and especially clean your leeks. If you have never *cleaned leeks I have a lesson below.

2. Water fry your vegetables. **lesson below

3. Add 8 cups of water and bring them to a slow boil for approximately 15 minutes

4. Drain the water, now vegetable stock, from the vegetables. Scoop out about a cup of the vegetables and set them aside to use later.

5. Place the vegetables from the pot into a blender with 1 cup of the stock. Blend for about 1 -2 minutes. High speed blender is preferred but a regular blender will work fine. However you will need to blend it a little longer to get the creamy look and feel.

6. Place the creamy soup back into the pot. Now you can return the vegetables, you set aside, into the pot.

7. The soup most likely will still be more thick than you want. You can add your stock which you have set aside. Stir. I end up adding about 1 – 1 ½ cups more. It is up to you how thick you like your soup.

8. Taste your soup. If it tastes good you don’t have to add salt. But if you feel you need the salt you can add it now along with a dash of pepper – totally optional.

9. Allow the soup to cook for about 10 minutes more.

10. SOUPS ON!

Garnish Suggestion: There are so many garnishes you can use on your soup -

• Tear fresh basil leaves

• Chopped tomatoes

• Small chopped avocados

• A dollop of vegan sour cream

• Sliced hot peppers (I love Fresno chili – the red is beautiful on the soup, but they are hot.

• A spoon of multi-color quinoa

*PREP LESSON: How to clean leeks.

Leeks are wonderful vegetables that have many layers which collect all the bit of earth that surround it. It’s important to get them clean. Leeks are from the onion family but are milder and considered to be more of an aromatic.

You need to cut the leeks in order to clean them and how you are going to use them depends on how you will cut and clean.

For this recipe you will be cutting half-moons. You will only be using the white part and light green part of the leek. The leaves are dark green and tougher. But don’t throw them away. They are wonderful for making stock which you can use in other recipes.

• Cut off the root – you can rinse and also use it for stock.

• Holding the leaves or top of the leek make one cut lengthwise in the middle of the leek starting at the top just where the dark green leaves begins. By leaving the leaves connected it is easier to cut.

• Starting at the bottom where the root was - cut medium thin slices. Because of the slice down the center they will look like have moons.

• When you have finished cutting the slices place them in a bowl of water and swish them around making sure to massage them so that all the layers come apart. This will insure all the little bits of dirt and sand will come out into the water. The dirt will mostly sink to the bottom and the leeks will float on top.

• Transfer the washed leeks to a colander and rinse them again under the running water. Let them drain. They are now ready when you are.

**WATER FRY LESSON: How to fry with water

Water frying seems intense when you do it the first time. It did to me because I didn’t want to burn anything. I was used to oil. Yes it’s easier and faster but water frying can do the trick without all the calories and fat. I am not saying I never use oil. I do. But this is another healthy way you can use less of it.

• Set a cup of water near your cooking station as you will be using this to fry your vegetables

• Heat up a pan – non-stick makes it much easier.

• Add 2 tablespoons of water. The water should sizzle. Add the vegetables. Try not to crowd them as you want most of them to touch the bottom of the pan. Spread them around the pan. You can always do a couple of batches if you have a big amount.

• Let them set. Do not move them. You want the water to evaporate. As the water evaporates the vegetables will become brown on the edges. That’s good – you want them to brown or caramelize. There is flavor in the brown. They will probably not brown on the first evaporation.

• When the water has evaporated move the vegetables around and then add 2 more tablespoons of water. Repeat the process: Spread the vegetables out. Let them set until the water is evaporated. This time you will probably see a bit of browning on the edges as the water evaporates. Your pan will also be browning a bit. This is ok. Those brown bits are full of flavor and will melt into the soup as you continue to add your liquid. (Soup or sauce you are making)

• When the water has evaporated repeat the process again. Add 2 tablespoons of water, spread the vegetables out. Let them set until the water has evaporated and the browning begins. Watch the vegetables carefully – brown is tasty – burnt is not. Once the vegetables have become tender you can proceed with your recipe.

EXAMPLE – you are making spaghetti sauce. Water fry your onions. Once they are translucent and browned you can add your tomato sauce. As you stir the sauce around you will notice that the browned onions which might have stuck to the pan are loosened and have added browned goodness to your sauce.