For March 2021 in “The Twelve Months of Soup,” I decided to go for a twist on a traditional Irish soup, so I prepared Vegan Potato Leek Soup.

I paired it with a colorful Beet Salad topped with feta cheese.

It’s a perfect combo for St. Patrick’s Day or any meatless Friday during Lent.

Here is the link for the Vegan Potato Leek Soup, https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-potato-leek-soup/#tasty-recipes-7667.

It’s super easy without a lot of ingredients. A can of Coconut cream may be the most difficult ingredient you have to find to find, but you could substitute unsweetened oat milk or if you’re not trying to keep the recipe vegan, you can use dairy milk. I sauteed the onion, leeks, and garlic in olive oil, but you can use butter or vegan butter. I like to use olive oil. Once the vegetables are tender you add rosemary, thyme, and ground coriander.

Next, you add the diced potatoes, bay leaf, and vegetable broth. (I also made my vegetable broth the day before from water, spices, and a bag of vegetable peelings and end pieces I save and freeze for making soup. I bring it to a boil then simmer all day. After it cools, I strain the liquid into a glass jar to get rid of the vegetable pieces and refrigerate the broth overnight). Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are soft.

Remove the pot from the stove, takeout the bay leaf, and add the coconut cream, salt, and pepper. I added a little vegan bacon seasoning from Deliciou. I love this stuff because it has great bacon flavor without excessive salt, calories, or fat, and no greasy pan to wash. It also comes in five bacon flavors - original, smoky BBQ, spicy, cheesy, or maple. I used a combination of smoky BBQ and spicy bacon flavoring.

At this point you have two choices; you can stir the soup and serve as is or blend it with an emulsifying blender or in a traditional blender to make it creamy and smooth. I used the emulsifying blender. The recipe calls for chives as a garnish. I was all out, so I used diced green onion, Delicious! James went a different way. Instead of green onions, he topped his soup with cheddar cheese and additional fresh ground black pepper – though not vegan, he gave the soup a rave review.

To complete the meal, I made a beet salad. Here is the link for the recipe, https://cleananddelicious.com/arugula-beet-and-goat-cheese-salad/.    

This is a simple and delicious recipe for a healthy salad – arugula, beets, dried cranberries, walnuts, and goat/feta cheese (you can use vegan feta if you want the whole meal to be vegan). The recipe calls for a simple dressing made from olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, Salt, Pepper, garlic, and Dijon mustard. A quick check of my cupboard revealed my Balsamic vinegar was past its expiration date, so I substituted Champagne vinegar. This gave the dressing a lighter flavor that I thought went well with the beets. The salad is colorful and flavorful, and the meal was delicious.

Next month, I’ll be making Vegetarian Vegetable Soup with a Vegetable Panini.

The Twelve Months of Soup

January – Chicken Noodle Soup and Mandarin Orange Salad

February – Seafood Bisque and Strawberry Spinach Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing

March – Potato and Leek Soup and Beet Salad

April – Vegetarian Vegetable Soup with a Vegetable Panini

May – Black Bean Soup and Mexican Kale Salad

June – Italian Wedding Soup with a Chicken Wrap

July – Minestrone Soup with a Hoagie

August – Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Quinoa Salad

September – Tomato Basil Soup with a grilled Cheese Sandwich

October – Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili and Pomegranate and Wild Rice Salad

November – Butternut Squash Soup with a turkey sandwich

December – Split Pea Soup with a Ham Sandwich