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The best thing about a garden is all the freshness is readily available throughout the summer. That’s the reward for all the hard work and it is hard work to get the ground made ready, to sow the seeds, to water and the constant weeding, to worry about too much sun, too little sun, too much rain, too little rain.
Yet when the herb garden is alive and the Thyme has again grown coming back each year as a faithful perennial does and the carrots and leeks are ready then I am ready to make my favorite soup.
Arlene’s Mediterranean Carrot Leek Soup with Thyme.
Years ago I made vegetable stock, but now there are just two of us and I buy vegetable stock.
I start with 6 cups of vegetable stock that I have warmed up on my stove over low heat. Prior to that I diced up about 3 cups of carrots and about 2 cups of the white part only of some leeks. I also slice up some potatoes (thinly) until I get about 1 & ˝ cups. I also finely chop up 2 cloves of garlic.
Next I put my good stainless steel stock pot on the stove and add 1 tablespoon of light olive oil and 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter adding the carrots, a pinch of pepper and ˝ tsp. of kosher salt and I sauté this for about 10 minutes until the carrots start to glisten and the juices of the carrots are released.
I next add 1 cup of the vegetable stock stirring the bottom of the pot so I can loosen up all the sugars that have collected on the bottom of my stock pot. Now I add 3 more cups of vegetable stock and my potatoes and bring to a gentle boil which at that time I reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes keeping the cover on the pot. Once the carrots are tender I shut off the stove and I add 2 more cups of vegetable stock and then carefully pour into my food processor or blender and puree.
Once that is done I pour it back into my stock pot and keep warm on low heat.
Now I take a sauté pan and put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in it and then add the garlic and leeks, ˝ tsp. kosher salt, a pinch of pepper and ˝ tsp. of dried Thyme, I cook all this with a cover on my sauté pan for about 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat.
Now I add all this to my pureed soup and cook on low heat for another 30 minutes. Once done I add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream which is optional, but we like it. If you add the cream, then taste it as you may want to add a bit more of salt and pepper. To add a bit of “theater” to this when you serve it you can sprinkle each soup serving with some grated Gruyere cheese and sprinkle with fresh Thyme.
I find that this soup blend really “marries” the flavors well when I reheat any leftovers up the next day.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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