Potato Leek Soup with Crispy Sage is creamy and delicious.  With basic ingredients and minimum hands on cooking time, this soup has been added to my comfort food favorites list.

As with several other recipes on Lemony Thyme, when the instructions begin with melting butter in a pan, the first thing that comes to mind is adding fresh sage leaves.  Something magical happens when these two ingredients are slowly heated.  That magic became the base for this yummy soup.  Once the leaves are crisp, remove from the butter and reserve for a garnish.

If you haven’t cooked with leeks before the one thing you need to be sure to do is wash them thoroughly AFTER you slice them.  Dirt has a way of sneaking almost all the way through the length of the stalk, as shown in the picture below.  Remove the outer tough layer, then slice the white and pale green portion into 1/4-inch rings.  Simply fill a bowl full of water and drop in the sliced leeks, giving them a swirl to loosen the rings.  Strain and you are good to go.

Leeks have a wonderful mild onion taste and when sautéed they become slightly sweet and tender.  We sauté in the sage butter until tender, then add a bay leaf, chopped garlic, and lemony thyme sprigs and cook for another minute until the garlic is fragrant.

Diced potatoes come next, the signature ingredient that makes Potato Leek Soup so incredibly creamy and comforting.

Cover potatoes with warm broth and bring to a gentle simmer until they are fork tender, about 30 minutes.

Once the potatoes are tender, remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and add the cream.  Now, either transfer in batches to a blender or use an immersion blender and process until soup is creamy and smooth.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Potato Leek Soup topped with crispy sage leaves and a side of crusty bread makes this hearty enough for a meatless Monday meal.

The chilled version of this soup, called Vichyssoise, is wonderful served as an appetizer.  The subtle flavors of sage and lemony thyme come shining through when chilled.  Do yourself a favor and try it both ways.  Enjoy!

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Potato Leek Soup {with Crispy Sage}

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 1 lg. or 2 small leeks whites & pale green only, sliced
• 1 lb. russet potatoes peeled and diced
• 2 Tbl. butter
• 6-8 fresh sage leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh lemony thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup cream
• salt & white pepper to taste

Instructions

• Remove outer tough layer of leek; slice whites & pale green of leek into 1/4-inch rings, then place slices in a bowl of water. Gently swirl to loosen rings. Drain.
• Melt butter over medium-low heat in a 2 quart sauce pan. Add fresh sage and sauté for 5-7 minutes or until sage leaves become slightly crispy. Remove sage and reserve for garnish.
• Add leeks to butter and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add bay leaf, garlic and thyme sprigs and cook an additional minute until garlic is fragrant.
• Add diced potatoes and broth and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs, then stir in cream until heated through. Remove from heat and blend either using an immersion blender, or carefully in batches in a traditional blender until creamy and smooth. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
• Serve warm, garnished with crispy sage leaves or served chilled.

The post Potato Leek Soup {with Crispy Sage} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Hanging on to every fresh produce summer moment over here on Lemony Thyme.  I’m calling this soup Roasted Veggie & White Bean Chowder because it has a creaminess about it and chowders are amazing.  The beautiful thing is the creamy came from the white beans not cream or butter.  That puts this soup squarely in our Healthy Choices category.

Our soup began, like most of our soups do, with a sauté of onion, carrots and celery.  I decided to roast the next veggie layer of flavors, which consisted of summer squash, zucchini and a gorgeous farmers market ‘very ripe’ yellow tomato.  Let’s take a minute to give a shout out to roasted veggies, no matter how you enjoy them.  Roasting a pan of diced veggies in a bit of olive oil & fresh herb sprigs for 20 minutes completely elevates their flavors.

This dish was a recipe-in-motion from the start.  Since today is the eve of a new work week, I had healthy lunch choices on the brain.  My goal was to add very little fat to this recipe and instead let the veggies work their magic.  I pureed half of the white beans with some veggie broth to help thicken the soup.  The result, our Roasted Veggie & White Bean Chowder had a savory, almost chicken pot pie feel.  In the very best way.

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Roasted Veggie & White Bean Chowder

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 1 onion diced
• 3-4 carrots diced
• 2-3 celery ribs sliced
• 1 tsp. Mrs. Dash garlic & herb seasoning
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 Tbl. olive oil divided
• 2 zucchini sliced & diced
• 2 summer squash sliced & diced
• 1 large or 2 small yellow or red tomatoes, sliced
• 1 15-ounce can white beans
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• pinch cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Heat 1 Tbl. olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add diced onion, carrots, celery, thyme sprigs and Mrs. Dash; sauté until tender.
• Meanwhile, put a single layer of zucchini, squash and tomato onto an olive oil coated shallow baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then stir and bake for 10 additional minutes; discard thyme sprig and add to Dutch oven.
• Combine half of the beans with 2 cups of broth in blender and puree. Add to Dutch oven with remaining broth. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with cayenne, salt & pepper.

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Broccoli Cheddar Soup.

We are on a mission to add at least two new soups per week to the pages of Lemony Thyme.  Below may have something to do with this!!!  

Brrrr!  I realize that most of the country has been suffering with EXTREME cold, so I’m not at all complaining.  But when it’s 5 degrees in the Sunny South, the first thing that comes to mind is Sharing the Love with big pots of soup.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup has the extra bonus of familiar comfortable flavor.  There are dozens of copycat recipes all over the web.  We all have our favorite version from different restaurant chains or family recipes.  Here is how we make this wonderful cheesy creamy soup at our house.

Diced onion and carrots are sautéed in butter until tender, then followed by minced garlic.  A good dusting of flour before the milk and broth are added delivers the creaminess we love.  Once the mixture simmers and comes to a boil, the chopped fresh broccoli is added.  Allowing the broccoli to cook in the broth infuses delicious flavor.

Once the broccoli is tender, the mixture is pureed in the blender.  You can puree just a portion of the soup if you like it chunky.  We prefer it creamy, so instead I reserve a few cooked broccoli florets to serve on top.  Once blended the cheddar cheese is added.  Lots of cheddar cheese.  I like to season this soup at the end.  I find the cheese brings all the salt you need and I love freshly cracked pepper on top.  A pinch of nutmeg and cayenne add a wonderful flavor nuance.

Now, how to serve your Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  A nice big bowl full is always, always wonderful and perfect for your low-carb spouse.  But for those of us who favor the bread bowl, fill it up.

Then come the garnishes.  As mentioned, cooked broccoli florets are nice floated on top along with a pinch of shredded cheddar.  However, a little crumbled bacon might make you go weak at the knees….adding it or not is completely your choice (unless you’re a vegetarian I highly recommend the bacon).

There you have it.  His and Hers bowls of Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  I’m feeling warmer already.

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Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter divided
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 head of broccoli chopped
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
• pinch cayenne
• pinch nutmeg

Instructions

• Saute onion and carrot in butter until tender. Add in minced garlic and stir for another minute. Dust with flour, stirring continuously over medium heat until well combined; 1-2 minutes.
• Slowly whisk in the milk and broth, bring to a boil and simmer 7-10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low, add in broccoli. Continue to simmer until broccoli is tender, about 20 minutes.
• If you want a smooth soup, puree in batches in the blender and return to the pot. If you prefer it chunky only puree half of the soup. I like to reserve a few cooked broccoli florets to float on top of each bowl. Add in shredded cheese and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until cheese is completely melted. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg to taste.
• Garnish with reserved broccoli florets, shredded cheddar, and optional crumbled bacon. Delicious served in bread bowls or with a side of crusty bread.

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