Chunky Potato Leek Soup (Vegan and Gluten-Free!)

Chunky Potato Leek Soup! 

I love potatoes, leeks, and dill. Today I was so freezing cold that all I wanted was a warm creamy and  potato chunked soup. I'm not going to lie, I feel warm and cozy now! This recipe did the trick. It's vegan and gluten-free but nobody noticed or cared. It was so good that maybe all potato leek soup should be vegan ;)

This soup was actually so simple! The thing that took the most amount of time was peeling the potatoes haha. To be honest if I wasn't serving this to people with certain expectations I'd have left the nutrient rich skin on and saved myself the time! But either way here we are with this super easy one pot recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Vegan butter (I used Earth Balance "Great Buttery Taste”)

2 Medium Leeks, cleaned and sliced (for a great video on how to do this, here's a helpful link!)

1/2 White onion, chopped

4 Garlic cloves, minced

4 cups Yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1" thick cubes

2 1/2- 3 cups Vegetable Broth (Less for thicker soup)

1/2 tspDried Basil

1/2 tspDried Oregano

1 Bay Leaf

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Soy Milk (plain)

1 TbspFresh dill, finely chopped

1 TbspFresh parsley, finely chopped

 Black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Peel, clean, and chop all vegetables. In a large soup pot, melt vegan butter on medium heat. Add the Leeks, onions, and garlic and sauté. After veggies are soft (5-10 minutes), add chopped potatoes and stir. Pour in vegetable broth and mix well. Raise heat to high, cover and let boil for 5 minutes. Lower

temperature to a low boil, and add basil, oregano, bay leaf, and salt. Leave covered and cook for about 15 minutes. Once potatoes are soft, uncover, lower heat to a low simmer, and mash contents with a potato masher. Once the soup is the consistency you like, add the soy milk, dill, and parsley. Remove from heat and continue to stir soup. Serve with black pepper to taste. Enjoy! 

5 Minute Dark Chocolate (Raw Vegan)

I cheat. Let's be real, I do my best to be a good vegan, but sometimes I can't help myself. Like the other day when I was starving and waiting in a loooong line at Victoria Secret the day before Valentine's Day. All I could think about was how I needed food before I pass out, and the sweet check-out lady answered my prayers with a complimentary box of chocolates. Nice touch VS. Nice touch. Naturally I went and stuffed a couple in my mouth despite being vegan AND allergic to dairy hahaha.

Those chocolates are now sitting on my counter and the way I avoid temptation is easy (No. I didn't throw them away. I'm not crazy.) I just made my own vegan chocolate so that if I was tempted to go for the normal ones, I'd remember that I have an even MORE delicious option in the freezer! I used a chocolate pomegranate recipe for the basic idea of how to make the chocolate, then made my own version. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (warm)
3/4 cup raw cocoa powder
sea salt
raw cashews

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes (depending how you melt your oil)
Freeze Time: 20 min

To Make:
I melted to the coconut oil and maple syrup together, then folded in the cocoa. The first time I made this I mixed the oil and cocoa then whipped in cold maple syrup and it made a cool puffy chocolate, but it was messy to eat. The way you mix this together really effects the outcome. Once the cocoa was more incorporated into the mix, i slowly stirred it. I then cooled it slowly by surrounding the mixing bowl in a larger bowl with cool water and slowly mixed the chocolate until it seemed silky rather than separated.

That's the main chocolate! You can really do anything you want with this step. I set little clumps of cashews on a metal try with parchment paper, then spooned chocolate over them. I also made some plain dollops without nuts. I bet spooning it onto shredded coconut would be AWESOME or any other type of nut. ANYWAY...

When I was finished doing that, I went back and covered them again for good measure, then powdered the tops with the raw cocoa powder for a touch of bitterness, and ground a bit of sea salt over the tops. THIS PART IS IMPORTANT! I'm serious, without the sea salt is good, WITH the sea salt, it's the best ever.

Put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. That's all. No excuses.

See? I wasn't kidding when I said the vegan chocolate was a yummier option.  I took some bites before the photo ;). And I SHARED the VS chocolate. That's not all on me hahahaha