Potato-Leek Soup: Good For What Ails You
Smooth, Soothing, and Simple
Potato-Leek Soup | Dara O’Brien
By Dara O’Brien
Creative Director, Lake Isle Press
Being alone when you’re sick has its advantages. You don’t have to worry about spreading your germs to anyone. You can be a total grouch and nobody will notice. And here’s a big one: you can sigh and sniff and sneeze all you want and you won’t get on somebody’s last nerve.
On the flip side, there’s nobody to bring you a glass of juice or a mug of hot tea. If you want to eat, you have to rustle up your own grub. And there’s nobody to clean up after your sorry self, so things are likely to get a bit messy.
An apt description of my Thanksgiving 2022. As the holiday dawned it became clear that despite my hopes to the contrary, a head cold was to be my destiny. I tested negative for Covid, but nevertheless stayed away from our family celebration, because who wants a sick person breathing on the turkey?
I have never been good at asking for help. Self-reliance is my stock-in-trade. So when my sister-in-law Anne Marie, who lives around the corner, came by the day after Thanksgiving with a cheery bouquet and a care package from our family’s Thanksgiving feast (prepared by my sister Maureen, who is my cooking guru) it was a small miracle. I was at my very sickest that day and barely able to get up from the couch. How marvelous it was to have someone looking after me.
The days wore on and so did my cold. Despite Anne Marie’s generous offer to come by again with more supplies, my habitual need to not be a bother kicked in, and I told her I was much better and could handle things myself. In other words, I lied.
I dragged myself off the couch to get some cold medicine and a few sundries. Then my need for self-reliance kicked into high gear and I decided to make soup.
I could have picked up something ready-made in the deli department of our local grocer, but I told myself if I chose a recipe that was simple enough, I could make my own and wouldn’t that be better? It had to be easy and smooth and soothing. I decided on Potato-Leek, and looked up a recipe from “Soups + Sides” by Catherine Walthers, published by Lake Isle Press.
Catherine’s version is streamlined with just a few simple ingredients—potatoes, onions, leeks, and water. It’s a light, creamy balm with no cream, which is helpful when consuming creamy things would feel like you’re adding extra twigs to the dam inside your head.
Prep was easy; peel and cube potatoes and dice the leeks and onions. I added some Better Than Bouillon chicken base to the water for a little extra flavor. And that was basically it. As soon as the soup was ready I had a bowl of it and felt like I had done the absolute perfect thing for myself. I’m sure store-bought would have served, but knowing I had some homemade soup, and that I was the one who made it, was especially satisfying.
Being able to take care of myself is a point of pride for me. It matters that as a single person I live in a comfy, welcoming place, even when nobody’s coming over. That I will cook a full meal just for me. That I have a back-up at the ready for anything I am about to run out of. That I will make a simple pot of soup for myself when I am not feeling well.
But I’m also glad Anne Marie came by with a serving of Maureen’s Thanksgiving dinner when I needed it most. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing in this world. Take good care of yourself… but it won’t hurt to let somebody else pinch hit for you once in a while.
Potato-Leek Soup
Click here for printable recipe.
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
1 small to medium onion, diced
2 large or 3 medium whole leeks, trimmed, cut in half lengthwise, rinsed, and sliced (about 4 cups) (use all but the thick outer layers at the top)
2 tablespoons butter
6 cups water
2 medium potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish (optional)
2 bay leaves
1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Croutons, for garnish (optional)
PREPARATION
In a soup pot, sauté the onion and leeks in the butter over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the water, potatoes, parsley, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves. Puree the soup in a blender in 2 batches until creamy and smooth. Return the soup to the pot and heat gently. This soup typically needs a fair amount of salt; keep adding salt a bit at a time, tasting as you go, until the leek flavor shines through. Add the pepper. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with croutons or chopped parsley, if desired.
Recipe from “Soups + Sides” by Catherine Walters, Lake Isle Press, 2010
Potato-leek Soup Recipe
from “Soups + Sides”
by Catherine Walthers, Lake Isle Press, 2010
“People are returning to real foods, locally grown—encouraging cooking that reflects ingredients in season.” —Catherine Walthers
A companion to Walthers’s popular “Raising the Salad Bar,” this handy cookbook is an expertly compiled collection of playful yet elegant recipes for soups that are made with fresh ingredients and are just right for any meal or occasion. Whether you mix and match your favorite soups and sides or enjoy them separately, it will dare you to think beyond the everyday and pull you out of your soup slump.
OTHER RECIPES FROM THIS BOOK
Beef Stew
Carrot-Ginger Soup
Cheddar Biscuits
Honey-Dijon Salmon Bites
MInted Honeydew Soup with Lime Spice Cookies