Potatoless Potato-Leek Soup

Potatoes are a gray area food.  Some people include peeled potatoes in their Paleolithic diets and some don’t.  My preference is not to, especially when there are such great tasting alternatives around.  This soup is a perfect example.  I have always loved potato leek soup, so I decided to experiment with a version of this soup devoid of potatoes.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that replacing the potatoes with rutabaga and cauliflower resulted in an even more flavorful soup that still retained all the creamy goodness of the original.  This is definitely a good recipe to break out the butter from pasture-fed cows (you can omit the butter altogether if you are avoiding all dairy, or replace with pasture-fed tallow or lard).  I like this soup served with scallops or crab meat (as depicted).  A slice or two of Elena Amsterdam’s Paleo Bread is a welcome addition to the meal too.

 Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 bunch of leeks (usually 3)
• 1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
• 1 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt, to taste
• 12 cups chicken bone broth
• 3 Tbsp unsalted grass-fed butter

1.    Clean leeks well and separate the green part of the leeks from the white.  Cut the white part of the leeks into ½” slices.  Chop the green part of the leeks fairly fine and set aside.
2.    Place the chopped onion, celery, rutabaga and white part of the leeks in a big pot with the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer.
3.    Simmer vegetable approximately 40 minutes, until rutabaga is soft.
4.    Add cauliflower and simmer another 15 minutes, until cauliflower is soft.
5.    Blend soup with an immersion hand blender (or in batches in a standing blender) until smooth.
6.    Add leek greens to the pot and simmer another 5 minutes, until cooked.
Stir in salt and butter.  Serve!