The special days of winter stretch out like a string of lustrous black pearls: the winter solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule, New Year, Lunar New Year.... To balance out any indulging in holiday sugarplums, I try to have a comforting and nutritious soup always on hand. Sometimes this comes together like an old-fashioned potager. Leftover vegetables are sauteed in the bottom of a large pot, bits of meat or protein are added, then lots of broth and flavorings.
This soup from Nico's Tiny Kitchen follows the potager formula, combining three of my favorite ingredients: potatoes, beans, and leeks. All of these keep well through the winter. I was surprised at how juicy and fragrant the leeks were since they had been in my fridge's produce drawer for two months (I bought them at the last farmer's market of the season in early October). I added garlic to the leeks and, with the garnish of chives, this could actually be called a three-onion soup. Or, more poetically, it could be titled Three Lilies Soup, since all the alliums are members of the Lily family.
The procedure to wash leeks begins with slicing them lengthwise and fanning out the leaves, then swishing them in water to remove all traces of sand. The tender white and light green parts are used and the tough greens are put in the compost.
Leeks have many antioxidents, minerals, and vitamins. They are beneficial for heart and circulatory system health. The fiber in leeks makes them low in calories. They are so nutritious that they're often recommended for a pregnancy diet. Perhaps that's why Rapunzel's mother craved the leeks from her neighbor's garden, leading to the child's imprisionment in a tower, according to a Grimm brothers' tale. But the word Rapunzel actually refers to other types of alliums.
