Adventures at Reading Terminal Market

I'm just about halfway through the second semester of my first year of law school. The first year is always supposed to be the hardest and I've kept myself (relatively) sane through lots of gym time and way too much cooking.

Since moving to Philly I've become obsessed with Reading Terminal Market. The Market has tons of little stores and food counters with famous Philly icons like DiNic's (famous for their Roast Pork sandwich) and Delilah's (featured on Bobby Flay's Throwdown). My favorite place in the Market has to be the Ok Lee produce stand.

Ok Lee has hands down the cheapest produce I have ever seen. My favorite thing to do at the end of a long week is to visit Ok Lee and pick up a few of their "grab bags." Grab bags are filled with an assortment of produce and they cost just $1. If the fruits and veggies look good, I usually come home with some new ingredients I've never cooked with before. This is why I have about 8 beets sitting in my kitchen now. If you have any beet recipe suggestions, send them my way!

This weekend, in addition to the beets, I picked up some blood oranges and leeks. The blood oranges were immediately put into a blood orange gimlet. The leeks.... oh so delicious.. The leeks went into a creamy leek and potato soup. Here is my recipe:

4 leeks (slit into quarters and rinsed under cool water to remove grit)

1 medium onion (1/4 to 1/2 in dice)

2 cloves garlic (diced finely or use garlic paste)

2-3 Tbs butter

1 1/2 - 2 lbs baby red potatoes chunked into 1/2 in. (you can use whatever variety you'd like)

2 cups homemade chicken stock

2 cups cold water (adjust this to your taste, I like the soup pretty concentrated)

kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper to taste

1) After cleaning the leeks under cool running water, slice them into 1/2 in pieces.

2) Melt the butter in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.

3) Add the leeks, onion and garlic. Cover, reduce heat to medium and sweat for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, soft and translucent.

4) Add the potatoes, combine well. Stir for an additional 5 minutes.

5) Stir in chicken stock and water.

6) Let simmer for at least 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft. I left mine on for about half an hour.

7) Puree the soup in a blender in batches. You can also use an immersion blender if you have one.

Enjoy with some nice crusty french bread!

Notes:

I did not add any cream or milk to keep it lighter but you certainly can if you would like. I also left my red potatoes unpeeled to add some texture and a few little spots of color. If you don't like potato peels in your soup, take them off.