Soup for Any Season

 A staunch advocate of fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables as they shine much more brightly than their travel weary, off-season cousins, I draw the line when certain types of food are relegated to specific seasons.  By way of example, the people who believe ice cream is a summer treat and soup is only suitable in cooler months.  (I was teased endlessly in sixth grade after wrapping up a Baskin Robbins gift certificate for the holiday gift exchange, which confounds me to this very day!)

Soup was in regular rotation at my childhood kitchen table, in part because it is one of life’s most perfect foods, and in part because my father adored soup at lunchtime, particularly when lucky enough to be home.  Sometimes it came from a familiar red and white can, or perhaps the blue one; but more often it was made with care from scratch by my mother.  Cookbooks were consulted here and there, sometimes recipes were clipped from a newspaper or magazine, or shared by her church or Centerport Garden Club pals.  Never one to slavishly follow an ingredient list, she was more likely to compose whatever she was making with what was on hand and sounded tasty.  She was and is an excellent and instinctual cook to this very day.   We often mail recipes back and forth and have done so for as long as I can recall.  One such recipe that remains in regular rotation is a simple but delicious potato and leek soups she sent me many years ago.

Potato and leek soup is classic, and as such equally at home in your best china at a dinner party, or in an earthy crock for a quick lunch.  Delicious hot or cold, and made with easily sourced and economical ingredients, it is a cinch to pull together in any season, though it is just the ticket for the days heading into Spring, which are often quite brisk.  If you prefer a thicker more rustic soup, adjust the broth to potato ratio.  You could also tweak the potato to leek balance to your taste.  Of course, you could take a cue from my mom’s playbook, call an audible, adapting the soup into something else entirely.  The choices are endless and yours to make.