I LOVE soup (especially on a cold autumn day)!!!

Last week Noah and I struggled through a nasty cold (the first cold I've had in a really long time), and it just knocked us off of our feet for several days :( As soon as I had the energy to get up and start getting back into my usual routine, I found myself craving deeply nourishing foods! I think that being sick inspired me to kick it's ass and really dig deep and come out healthier than ever before!!! Being sick anytime is terrible but when you are a mother and you can't really have time off to be sick and then being pregnant on top of it all = no fun at all!! So I decided that I was going to start meal-planning for our weeks, to ensure that my family was getting the best nutrients in their bodies. I have found that when I have healthy amazing meals, the leftovers all get eaten up and then Dan doesn't go and eat out which let's face it, would not be as healthy! He needs all the nutritional energy he can get while balancing such a busy schedule in school and home life! Dan and I have noticed that when there are an array of healthy options in the fridge, Noah is satisfied and sleeps better too! Plus we can give him more choices, knowing that whatever he picks has great health benefits for him and he feels like he has a voice which is important and valued!

Anyways, enough with the tangents (thanks for bearing with me...or maybe you just scrolled down for the much-more exciting recipe)!!!! Dan has been asking me for months to make a leek and potato soup if there was a vegan-friendly kind out there...I decided last week to experiment a little and I ended up incredibly thrilled and impressed with myself!!!

After leafing through 'Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook', I saw a recipe for leek, potato, parsnip and cauliflower soup. What I really love and appreciate about Tosca's ideas (wish they were all plant-based), is that she incorporates many more veggies and nutrients then the average recipe out there. Her recipes are always clean, meaning they are excellent for your body (I am referring only to the vegan recipes as that is the way we live and those are the recipes I have tried). After looking at her leek recipe and realizing that I didn't have many of the ingredients (including parsnips and cauliflower), I decided to branch out and make my own recipe with my own veggies (but inspired from hers)! So here is the recipe that I came up with...I must say that not only did I LOVE this soup, but Dan and Noah also savoured it and loved it too!!! YAY! A success! I will definitely make this soup again and again!!!

Jayanna's Broccoli, Leek and Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp. of coconut oil

2 yellow onions, peeled, chopped into chunks

5 leeks of similar size, trimmed, sliced in half lengthwise, well rinsed and coarsely chopped

2 cups of broccoli florets

4 cloves of garlic, pressed through a garlic press.

8 baby potatoes (I used baby red potatoes because they were local), cut in half and then again (4 pieces/baby potato)

1 tsp. of sea salt

pepper to taste

1 1/2 tsp. of rosemary

2 L low-sodium veggie broth (Pacific Natural Foods Organic low-sodium vegetable broth is also gluten-free which makes this recipe vegan and gluten-free for those interested)

METHOD:

1) In a large soup pot, heat coconut oil over low-medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, leeks and broccoli and cook, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes or until the vegetable have softened.

2) Add the potatoes, sea salt, rosemary, and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 35-50 minutes.

3) Scoop soup into a food processor if you have one and puree soup. If you do not have one, the soup will still be lovely, just not a pureed-consistency. I haven't tried using a blender but you can try this as well.

4) Scoop into bowls and serve! Noah loved his with some crackers and Daiya cheese sprinkled on top! I prefer mine just as it comes!

*Daiya cheese is a vegan, soy-free cheese that is incredible and is Vancouver-based! This is the only vegan cheese that we have had that melts like real cheese, tastes like real cheese and is a wonderful substitute for vegans! I first heard of Daiya cheese in Winnipeg out of all places at a sweet funky restaurant called Boon Burger (I heart this place so much)...when we moved to Vancouver, I started seeing it at the Whole Foods where I shop and on menus of hot spot vegetarian restaurants around town.

These are the ingredients for the cheddar Daiya cheese:

Filtered water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed Canola oil and/or non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, inactive yeast, vegan natural flavours, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, citric acid (for flavor), annatto.

It's really nice for Dan and I to give Noah a little treat of 'cheese' and know that we're not supporting the inhumane treatment which animals suffer from in the Dairy industry. Dan has now been vegan since May and he said that he was having cravings for cheese from time to time. Last week I made almond-flaxseed burgers (recipe from The Thrive Diet) and added Daiya cheese onto Dan and Noah's burger and Dan was salivating and in some sort of heavenly state!!! So our family gives three cheers for Daiya cheese!!!

Noah enjoying his delicious leek, potato and broccoli soup!!! He's proudly mixing in some daiya cheese because he loves helping and doing things all by himself!!! He's growing up so fast!

A satisfied papa bear (all of the family has earned the nickname of 'bear' since Noah started calling us by our name (eg. mama) and then following it with bear!!! His nickname is bear too!

MMM! ENJOY!