Vegetable Summer Soup

Every now and then, although summer is generally hot, a cooler day will blow in. Unlike the stinkers, it's not a day for salads and light snacks - but it's not a night for heavy carbs either.

Tonight was such a night. Temperatures dropped from the mid to high 30s over the weekend (that's mid 80s to mid 90s for you Imperial folk) down to 20 today (high 60s), and it felt cold. I don't like being cold.

I had a couple of leeks wasting away in the fridge, so soup seemed the perfect thing for tonight. I wanted to create something that was light and summery still, even though it was a soup - nothing too thick or heavy like you'd want for winter.



The Recipe

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 med onion, chopped
2 leeks, sliced
olive oil for frying
1t lemongrass/lime spice mix
2T plain flour
5c vegetable stock
1T lemon juice
1t lime juice
2 med potatoes, in small cubes
2 large carrots, grated
1 quantity* majoram
1 quantity parsley
2 quantities thyme
2t sweet chilli sauce
salt, to taste

Saute the garlic, onion and leek in the oil. Season with the lemongrass/lime spice mix. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 mins. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add lemon and lime juices, then the potatoes; simmer for 10 mins. Add carrot and herbs; simmer for 10 mins. Stir through sweet chilli. Season to taste. Serve hot with toast :o)

* I'm pretty hopeless at actually measuring how much seasoning I use. All I can say is I used two sprigs each of fresh parsley and marjoram, and about seven 10cm/4inch stalks of thyme.



The Results

Oh yeah. This is a summer soup. The lemon gives it the perfect zesty kick, and really emphasises the leek and onion flavours. That said, it's a nice mild flavour that isn't going to burn your socks off. It has a nice depth of flavour, and it really does taste like summer in a vegetable soup!

Braised Chicken with Creamy Leek Sauce

This is not an original recipe, but where it originally came from I can only guess. Enjoy!

Chicken in a Creamy Leek Sauce

1 bunch of leeks (usually a bundle has 3-4 stalks)
1 boneless/skinless chicken breast per person
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 medium cloves of garlic- crushed
1 can chicken broth (low sodium)
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste

Halve the leeks and cut into 1/2 inch - 1 inch slices. Wash thoroughly.


Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil and 1/2 tablespoon butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then brown chicken on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.



Add half of chicken broth and all the garlic to skillet and deglaze by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 1 to 2 minutes.



Add leeks and remaining 2 butter and salt and pepper to taste, then simmer over moderately low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until leeks are wilted, about 10 minutes.


Stir in rest of broth. Top leeks with chicken breasts and juices from plate, then gently simmer over low heat, covered, until leeks are tender and chicken is just cooked through, about 8 minutes .



Transfer chicken breasts to a plate. Add cream to skillet and boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty bread or over rice.