LEEK AND THYME SOUP

This recipe should really be called Potato Leek Soup. No matter what you call it it tastes great! I was really excited to try this recipe because its in one of my favorite Irish cook books.

Ingredients:
2 pounds leeks
1 pounds baking potatoes (I used two large baking potatoes, which ended up being closer to 2 lbs)
1/2 cup butter (non dairy soy margarine for us lactose free people.)
2 large sprigs of thyme
1 and 1/2 cups low-fat milk ( I used my Lactaid Milk because it is lactose free)
Salt and ground pepper and thyme to garnish. ( I put in about 1 table spoon of salt in the pot with the leeks and potatoes and then used salt on top of each portion)
Large bowl 1/2 full of water

Step one: Trim your leeks cutting away the tough top leaves. Then cut leeks into think slices. then place leeks in the bowl of water. This is the easiest way I have found to clean out all the grit in the leek layers. Just swish them around until they look clean. The dirt will fall to the bottom of the bowl. Then drain the leeks.

Step two: Peal and chop potatoes into 1 inch cubes, and dry on a paper towel.

Step three: Melt butter in a large sauce pan and then add leeks and thyme cover and cook for 4 minutes or until tender. Then add potatoes and just enough water to cover the top of the veggies. Re-cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.

Step four: Stir in milk and add seasoning (about 1 table spoon sea salt and a few grinds of pepper) cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Step five: Remove thyme stems (the leave will have fallen off into the soup) and serve.

I added a little more salt at the table as well as pepper. This would also be great with some soy cheese or bacon bits if you go for that sort of thing, anything you would put on mashed potatoes would be great in this soup. This makes about 4 servings, my boy friend and I skimmed off most of the broth and ate the veggies, and it only made 3 servings. This would make a great soup for lunch in the winter. Being that its full of potatoes like a chowder I find it to be very filling. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.