Sad Veggie Soup

I don't hold back on here so I am going to show you something most bloggers wouldn't, and its not going to be pretty. These veggies came out of my fridge on Friday. Before that they came from my CSA - three weeks ago.



Admit it, you've seen vegetables like this in your fridge. You bought them at the grocery, or the farmer's market, or were gifted with over abundance from a friend's yard and had the best of intentions that they would soon be a part of a delicious meal. But then work happens, and life happens, and take-out happens, and newer, fresher vegetables happen and suddenly you open up the vegetable drawer and find those sad, limp, brown around the edges shells of their former selves.




Not to worry though, these veggies may be sad now, but they will perk right up with a little tender loving care and a quick trim from a sharp knife. If you really needed to sharpen them up a quick shock in ice water can also help out, but for our purposes today I don't think that's necessary.



This recipe isn't much of a recipe. It is, as many of the things I cook are, extremely flexible and much more of a rough guide. I used leek, potato, and romanesco because its what I had.



If you have broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, corn, asparagus, or celery I am pretty sure it would work just as well. Just try to keep like veggies together, and go with your gut as to what would taste good. Corn and pepper would work well together for example.



Milk doesn't necessarily go with every combination, so you may exclude it if you like. If you don't use a starchy vegetable, like potato, you can thicken your soup with a mix of equal parts flour and butter (try one tablespoon of each to start) mashed together and mixed in to the hot soup after it has been pureed in the blender.




Sad Veggie Soup
2 Leeks, greens and any wilted layers removed
1 Small Head of Romanesco, trimmed
1 Medium Potato
3/4 cup Milk
1-2 tsp Dijon Mustard
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Chile Powder
Jerk Seasoning*

*My Jerk mix is predominantly thyme with sugar, salt, allspice and chile. The combo added oomph to my soup that I wasn't getting, and worked with my veggies. Feel free to add whatever flavors float your boat and will go with your veggies. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and any of the other green herbs are good places to start.

1) Clean and prep the vegetables. Wash, trim off any wilted or brown areas, and cut into smaller pieces to speed cooking.
2) Cook your veggies. Drizzle the leeks and romanesco with olive oil, salt and pepper liberally, and roast at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cook the potato in a sauce pan with the milk and enough water to cover the potatoes. Simmer over medium heat until fork tender, approximately 10-15 minutes.
3) Blend the soup. Put the potatoes, leeks, and romanesco in a blender with a few splashes of the potato cooking liquid, enough to lubricate the mix. Go slowly, pulse on a lower setting before adding more liquid and speeding it up. Be careful as hot liquids expand in the blender and may explode or cause injury. Add liquid and blend until soup reaches the desired consistency.
4) Season and Serve. Add the blended soup back into the potato pot and season to taste with mustard, chile powder, jerk seasoning, and additional salt and pepper. Enjoy.