Braised Leeks with Creamy Mustard Vinaigrette

Hey Friends!  Luckily for my silly ego not everything I made yesterday was a complete flop like my mallows.  I made this warm veggie dish with mustard vinaigrette that was pretty tasty and healthy, thanks to Deborah Madison and her fab cookbook that I seem to keep coming back to.  

Ingredients for the Veggies

• 5 Leeks
• 2 carrots
• 1 stalk of celery
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 bouquet garni (basically just a bundle of herbs, but you can buy them in teabag form if you're lazy like me)

Trim the dark green bits and the ends off the leeks and cut in half.  Slice carrots and celery thinly.  Throw everything in a large pot and bring to a boil, cooking for 15-25 minutes until everything is tender.  

Meanwhile, you can whip up this awesome dressing.

Ingredients

• Juice of one lemon
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons capers
• The recipe calls for these too but we didn't have them...
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Since we started getting all our veggies from an organic farm delivery scheme, sometimes we don't know what we're getting and sometimes we get stuff that we just wouldn't ordinarily use.  I find that things like celery and carrots are always the last to go as I never know what to do with them.  But they tasted great in this dish.  I have to tell you that the outermost layer of the leeks was a little tough, but I am a VERY impatient cook (it's my tragic flaw - well one of them anyways) so it's probably my fault.  The dressing was definitely the shining star of this and you could pretty much put it on anything and I think it would make it taste good.  It would be excellent for a potato salad to take on a little spring picnic!

Leek and Potato Soup

Our Riverford organic veggie box was full of leeks this week and I had lots of potatoes  leftover from last week.  I don't know why, but I never really cook with potatoes.  I like eating them, but I guess I always feel like they're not healthy.  But the potatoes have been accumulating so I desperately needed to get rid of them.

I found this simple recipe in Deborah Madison's book, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  Gawd, I feel like her PR rep.  Have I made anything not from this book lately?  Well, I really like it!  It's just chock full of simple recipes without a bunch of pretentious ingredients.

This soup is very simple, and clean, but hearty enough for a good winter meal.

Ingredients

• 3 large or 6 medium leeks, white parts only, finely chopped
• 1.5 pounds potatoes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 7 cups of water
• salt

Chop your leeks and set them in a bowl of water.  Meanwhile, quarter your potatoes lengthwise and thinly slice them.  

In a large (really large - we didn't have one big enough so I had to use two) pot melt the butter and then add the leeks and potatoes, cooking covered over low heat for about 10 minutes.  Add 7 cups of water and 1.5 tsp salt to the pot and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are falling apart, about half an hour.  Use a potato masher to break the potatoes apart and give the soup a thicker texture.  

I added a spoonful of capers just for a little extra bite and served with fresh whole wheat bread.  Enjoy!