Potato, Leek & Arugula soup

Inspired by the fact that I had leeks, potatoes and arugula, I happened upon this recipe for a Potato Leek and Arugula soup at farmgirlfare. I don't like turning on my oven and try to avoid using prepackaged broth, so this is my take on her recipe. As written this is vegan, but you can add in milk products if desired, which would make it vegetarian. Choose your own adventure!



Potato, Leek and Arugula soup (~3 meal sized servings)

-2 small/1 large leek
-1 carrot
-2 stalks of celery
-1 portabella/1 handful of mushrooms of some sort
-~1 lb of potatoes
-2 cups arugula (or more, if you're in the mood for lots of greens!)
-5 cloves of garlic (adjust to taste - 5 is a decently garlicy flavor)
-salt
-pepper
-dried or fresh dill
-few tablespoons of olive oil
-a few slices of dry bread

optional:
-few teaspoons of fresh chopped parsley
-chopped chives or green onions
-cheese
-greek yogurt
-milk/non-dairy milk

Wash the leek well and chop with the carrot, celery and mushroom. Warm a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot and add chopped veggies until they are soft. While veggies are cooking, wash and chop potatoes into 1 inch pieces. You can peel them if you want, but it is not necessary. Once veggies are soft, add potatoes, a pinch of salt and enough water to cover all vegetables in the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are soft enough to stab with a fork.

When the soup is close to being done, mince the garlic and cook just until fragrant and lightly brown in a little bit of olive oil and take off the heat. Add pepper to the soup (this is really to taste... I really like this soup very peppery, but a little bit of pepper also works.)

Transfer soup to a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend soup until smooth (you can add milk/non-dairy milk in this step if you want, but it is not necessary.) Return soup to pot, add garlic into the soup and warm.

Chop the bread into 1 inch small cubes and lightly toast in the same pan as the garlic was roasted in. If there is no oil left, add a little more, otherwise just use whatever is left from cooking the garlic.

Roughly chop the arugula and add into the soup with dill. Turn off the heat and allow arugula to soften. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper, soy sauce, dill, etc.

Serve soup in bowls, garnished with croutons, chopped fresh parsley and any other toppings, such as plain Greek yogurt, chives, green onions or cheese.