Potato Leek Soup

With this cold and nasty weather I am craving warm, comforting foods.  And creamy, hearty soups are top of that list! The other day I prepped up this gorgeous, creamy, DAIRY AND GLUTEN FREE potato leek soup.  Not only was it a hit, it was also super quick and easy in my Ninja foodie (but don’t worry, you could just as easily make it on the stove top).  It satisfied my craving for something warm and satiating without it being super heavy.  Because I blended most of the soup to get that creamy and velvety texture, I wasn’t particular on how accurate my chopping was- again, simple and quick for the win!

2 celery stalks, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 leeks, roughly diced

1 white onion, chopped

1 small celeriac root (optional, I just had one on hand and it was fantastic)

3 carrots, diced

7-8 medium sized potatoes, I had some white potatoes on hand so left them with the skin on and all, if you wanted to use 4-5 russets or larger potatoes you could but I would peel those as they have a more rough skin

4 cups chicken broth

¼ c nutritional yeast (you could use parmesan if you’re not dairy free, but the nutritional yeast also provides a great nutritional value of vitamins and minerals!)

1 tbsp dried herb blend (mine was an italian blend)

1-2 tsp salt and pepper to your taste

4 slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces

Place all your veggies from the celery to potatoes in an instapot or ninja foodie (or a big stovetop pot).  Lightly saute your veggies, about 5-7 mins.  Add in your seasonings (not your nutritional yeast though) and broth.  If using an instapot or foodie, put on the high pressure cooker setting and cook for 10 mins.  If using the stovetop, bring it all to a simmer and let cook for 30 plus mins until your potatoes and veggies are fork tender.  While waiting for your soup to cook, fry your bacon pieces.  Place them in a pan over medium high heat and cook until crisp, or to desired texture and set aside.  

Once your soup mix is cooked, scoop out ¾ of your soup mixture and add to a high speed blender with the nutritional yeast.  Blend until creamy and smooth.  Add back into the pot with the remaining soup and stir together- this will give you a nice mix of creamy and still hearty pieces of potato and veg in the soup, you could easily blend it all if you wanted it all creamy.  Stir it all together and reheat if it loses some heat in the blender.  Ladle into sopu bowl and serve topped with the crispy bacon pieces- enjoy!