Potato Leek Soup – adapted from David Lebovitz’s blog (6-8 Servings)

Recipe and Image from our CSA member Arielle Burlett

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons butter or olive oil, or a combination

2-4 leeks, washed and sliced (Leeks are always really dirty inside, so best to chop them up first and then run them under water in a strainer really well before putting in the pot).

1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme; optional

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

6 cups water

1 1/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used a combination of what was provided in my last two Windflower Farm CSA boxes and really liked the variety in the soup)

¼ cup Buttermilk or sour cream (optional)

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper

Salt to taste at each step

Instructions

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the butter or olive oil over medium heat. Add the slices of leeks and season with salt. Cook the leeks over moderate heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, until they’re completely soft and slightly browned.

Add the thyme, if using, and chile powder, and stir for about 30 seconds, cooking them with the leeks to release their flavors.  Add salt to taste.

Pour in the water, and add the potatoes and bay leaves.  Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender when poked with a sharp knife. Depending on which potatoes you used, it could take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.

Pluck out the bay leaves.  Puree the soup with the pepper, seasoning with more salt if necessary.  An immersion blender is ideal for this step if you have one.  Food processors or blenders may make the soup puree gummy. *If you are using buttermilk or sour cream, add in slowly while you puree the soup*. If the soup is too thick, add a bit more water slowly until you reach the desired consistency.

Suggestion:  Once cooled, split soup into Freezer Quart bags, label them, and put them in the freezer to pull out in small batches throughout the Fall!

Leeks and Butternut Squash (Fall Recipe)

From CSA member Bruce Thomson!

Leeks

Chop up the leeks!

Cook ‘em

Put them over some protein, like salmon!

Apple cider syrup drizzled over roasted butternut squash

Recipe for syrup

Let Your Leeks Take Center Stage

Member Chris Phillips is here to help answer the question “what to do with all these leeks?”-

I have a bad habit: I’m a leek collector. I buy them or find them in my CSA box and I don’t use them up right away. I dream of spending a quiet hour making potato leek soup, but I never quite find them time. I wonder if I can carmelize leeks and blend them into cream cheese to make a great dip or spread but I never do that either.

Instead my lonely leeks sit idle at the bottom of the crisper drawer until my husband reminds me to use it or lose it. Leeks do keep well in the crisper, but this time why not make the leeks the very first think you use from this week’s CSA basket?

Try Molly O’Neil’s super straightforward recipe for braised leeks. I find this recipe to be a revelation. Wait till you smell the leeks braised in wine! Leeks are usually character actors, so it feels adventurous to put them on center stage at least one every autumn. 

If we’re lucky enough to still find some tomatoes in our CSA baskets or at the market this week, you might also like this recipe for Cod With Leeks and Tomatoes from Martha Stewart’s old Everyday Food recipe. I’ve made this tens of times and it’s one of my favorite fish dishes - great for a work-from-home weeknight or elegant enough for an autumnal outdoor socially distant dinner with neighbors.

Butternut Squash Soup from The Joy of Cooking

This vegan version from The Joy of Cooking is delicious and pretty easy.  You can also substitute a different kind of squash, depending on what you have on hand.

Ingredients:

1 large (or a few small) butternut squash, about 3.5 lbs
3 T. vegetable oil
2 large leeks, white part only, chopped
4 t. minced peeled fresh ginger
6 c. vegetable stock total, used in parts
1.5 t. salt

Directions:

1. Cut squash in half, remove seeds, and place cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet.  Add 1/4 inch water to the pan and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake at 375 until tender, 30 to 45 minutes.

2. In a soup pot over medium low heat, heat 3 T. vegetable oil.  Add the leeks and ginger and cook until leeks are tender but not browned, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Scrape the squash from the skin and add it to the pot along with 4 c. vegetable stock.  Bring to a simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes, stirring and breaking up the squash.

4. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Return to the pot and add the rest of the stock and the salt.  Heat through, then serve.

Makes 8 cups.