French Sister Soup

The winter of 2011 is all about soup for me - all I think about, all I eat, all I want with a slice of crusty bread or a grilled cheese sandwich. It started with my sister who has been making "french soup" for the past few years. It's a Sunday night soup, it's a soup for when you're tired or you've been eating too much or you're feeling homesick. It's also really easy :)


Ingredients:
1 onion
2 leeks
3 carrots
2 potatoes

Chop the onion and add it to the soup pot with a little olive oil or butter (My sister says butter is better but it's up to you). Heat them on low - you don't want to caramelize or brown them, you just want to cook them until they're fragrant and translucent. Add the chopped leeks (slice them in half length-wise then chop them into roughly the same size pieces as the onion). Cook the leeks as you did the onions, on low heat until they are fragrant and translucent. If this is unclear, think of it this way: when the onions no longer smell like they could make you cry, they're probably good).

After the leeks are cooked add the peeled and chopped carrots and the chopped potatoes - side note: if you want to blend this soup (and you can, although I prefer to leave it chunky) you should peel the potatoes. Let them sit with the leeks and onions for a moment, then cover the whole mess with a. water, b. chicken broth or c. some combination of the two, based on your personal preferences. Let it cook, hot but not boiling, for about a half an hour, or until the potatoes are soft. Eat with a grilled cheese sandwich. Yum!