It's Still Winter, Right? A Vegan Cream of Celery and Leek

This morning I woke up with a strong desire to make the entire kitchen smell like soup. It may have something to do with the fact that I watched Julie and Julia last night and that, after a glass of red or two, I thought I should start chopping winter veggies in the kitchen around midnight- which I refrained from doing as I have a daughter who likes to wake up a few times nightly. BUT it also made me think that I 100% understand where Julie Powell came from when she decided to start her daily blog. Choosing to cook new things everyday brings such as nice perspective and structure (and a few pounds) into your life and for people who either don't like their jobs and need an escape, are bored, or, like me, aren't used to not working (although I must say I could never, ever complain about not sitting in an office these days), it brings an extra goal into your day-to-day- and let's be honest you don't require two nap times a day to fold laundry and clean a few dishes. A daily dose of food photography as well as writing has made me add extra tasks to my lists other than 'sterilize bottles, fold laundry, make René's lunch'- which again, motherhood is the absolute best place to be don't get me wrong, but this makes the times when Ella sleeps a lot more interesting!

So for today I prepared a celery, leek and potato vegan cream, with the only goal in mind being to get rid of the softening-by-the-minute celery. I completely made it up as I went but found the result to be astoundingly scrumptious. It seems a tad excessive but I truly feel that way about this one so try it out and thank me later! Healthy, so comforting and tasty as H E- double hockey sticks. And yes, I'm one of those moms who like to say 'heck, goodness gracious and oh my'. I also only said poo and refuse all other words for diaper talk.

You will need,

Celery (half a stalk)

Garlic (5-6 cloves)

Basil salt

Black pepper

Garlic butter (2 tbsp)

Olive oil (3 tbsp)

Large golden potatoes (2, peeled and chopped in tiny cubes)

Scallions (3, thinly chopped)

Leek (1, thinly chopped)

Vegetable broth (1 box)

A few steps,

1. Thinly slice all vegetables and peel and chop the potatoes into small cubes.

2. In a large pot over medium heat, toss the minced garlic in with the olive oil and melted butter for about 45 seconds.

3. Add the leek, scallions and celery. Add salt and pepper and stir for 5-7 minutes.

4. Add broth, and when it starts boiling, reduce heat and add potatoes. Let simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are very tender.

5. In 2-3 batches depending on your blender's size, blend the soup and return to pot, to stir and let thicken for about 5 minutes.

6. Serve and enjoy the warmth! I like to keep a few leek slices aside to add as garnish- I let them grill for 2-3 minutes and then remove. Just a warm, happy touch of crunch.