Lazy Potato Leek Soup

…and finally, a Vegan MoFo retrospective!

This soup is easy easy easy. We’ve still got at least 10 pounds of summer potatoes to go (thank god they keep forever and ever), and sweet potatoes are starting to come in now so we need to make room. Luckily, they’re one of my favorite foods – I could just eat a baked potato with some salt and pepper for dinner, probably. But J is a little harder to please, so I whipped up this soup the other day so that he could help me eat up our stash.

Before I get to this laughably easy recipe… it’s time for a reflection on my first Vegan MoFo!

My recipes

I managed to do 13 posts during September. Considering that August 26th was my first day at a new job, I have decided that 13 posts is actually damn good. Despite not getting to 20, I kept up a decent pace and posted about some really awesome stuff! Look how well I ate in September! What with leftovers and the like, that is pretty much all of the things that I ate last month, in fact… I don’t have any problem with that. Check out my recipes page to get any of the recipes for the treats pictured!

The potato spelt bread (left, second row) was probably my favorite thing that I made, but by far my most popular post was for these AMAZING, no-sugar-added banana fudgesicles (bottom left). We have made them at least once a week since I originally posted about them.

Recipes from the blogosphere

I saw So. Many. Delicious. Recipes. in my blog feed during September, so here are just a few of my favorites. Some of these might not have been officially part of Vegan MoFo… but were too good to pass up!

Chipotle Mac n’ Cheese from Wing It Vegan – looks crazy creamy and tasty
Creamy Chickpea Casserole from Attune Foods – I think this could satisfy J’s tuna casserole cravings!
BBQ Jackfruit Stuffed Sweet Potatoes from Luminous Vegans – because, just look at it.
Bacon Lentil Crunchies from Fo Reals Life (I wanted to just list everything they posted this month, but I refrained)
Zucchini Noodles with Cilantro Pesto from GI 365 – so fresh and bright!
Coconutty Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Produce on Parade – every time I look at the pictures of these, I think, DESSERT IS WORTH IT.

Where Yup, it’s vegan is headed

This month of frequent posting came only a few months after I actually started the blog, so I still hadn’t established a regular rhythm for posting (um, it just took me 4 tries to spell the word ‘rhythm’). I’ve got my hands full with the new(ish) job, and it’s gotten to that point during the year when there is not sunlight anymore once I get home from work. I also often feel too lazy to cook on weeknights and just want to eat leftovers (hey, I think that’s fine). On the weekends I cook up a storm so my goal is to cook and photograph 2 recipes per weekend, one to post on Saturday or Sunday, and another to post on Wednesday-ish.

I totally love blogging and sharing my straightforward vegan recipes with the {small corner of the} world {who actually reads my blog}. My attitude has always been that this isn’t vegan food. It’s just food. Most people who get freaked out by the idea of vegan cooking don’t realize how much of what they already eat is vegan. I’m just here to offer some more ideas, and with pretty much everything made from scratch.

Also, it’s become pretty painfully apparent that it’s time to stop using my cell phone camera for all of these food pictures. Occasionally I use my ancient point-and-shoot that I got in middle school, and it doesn’t offer much of an improvement. Photography is not a natural gift of mine, but I’m trying my best. So, I’m keeping an eye on the piggy bank to purchase a few things to help make my food look as beautiful on my blog as it does in real life (to me anyway).

Okay. Soup time. I didn’t measure while making this, and neither will you. So I’m not going to pretend to give much in the way of quantities. Just chop up some things, throw it on the stove, and chillax while it cooks.

In my experience, the biggest reason that homemade soups turn out to be disappointing and lacking in flavor is that people are afraid of adding salt. Want to take your homemade vegan food from lame to sublime? Double the amount of salt that you put in it. By making food from scratch, you are already doing a good job of watching your sodium – most of our sodium problems (as a society) come from processed foods, and particularly preservatives. And my second rule of thumb for soup that tastes blah is more acid. Here I’ve used white wine vinegar but I know for a fact that lemon juice, cider vinegar or plain white vinegar also work. Other vinegars do, too… they might just mess with the color of this particular soup.

Lazy Potato Leek Soup
Makes a lot

Olive oil
1/2 a bag of frozen leeks
1/2 white onion, chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
A bunch of potatoes… about 6 fairly big ones for me, chopped, skins intact
Water or broth
White wine vinegar
Plain, unsweetened almond milk
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes (optional), and fresh parsley

Drizzle a little olive oil in a big sauce pan on medium heat. When it’s shimmering, add the leeks (yup, still frozen, straight into the pan), onion, and garlic, and a little salt, cooking for a minute or two until slightly softened. Add the potatoes and enough water/broth to cover all of them, plus a splash or two of vinegar. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to medium and cook until potatoes are soft (45 minutes, ish). Add more acid and salt to taste, plus a ton of freshly ground black pepper. Finish by stirring in some almond milk, and using a wooden spoon to mash some of the potatoes on the side of the saucepan (this will add even more creaminess). Serve with fresh parsley and more pepper.