LEEK AND POTATO SOUP WITH BLUE CHEESE

It’s daylight savings time and I’ve finally run out of ways to cook winter vegetables.  For months now I have roasted or boiled and mashed pounds of hard, homely root vegetables.  With more winter conditions in the forecast, I need a quick way to keep them interesting.

My transformation secret?  I add cheese, a process that sounds easy - unless you’ve served fondue to a crowd.   Then the protein in the cheese coagulates  over continuous heat and sinks to a sludge in the bottom of the pot.  But that’s easy to fix - stir the cheese into the dish at the very end of the cooking process.  

The addition of cheese is also an inexpensive fix.  Avoid the pricey raw milk cheeses for vegetable recipes.  Their subtlety will be lost when diluted and heated.  Concentrate instead on creating interesting combinations: Diced feta or ricotta salata will enlivens beet soup or salad.  A veined blue cheese adds a salty tang to leek and potato soup.  Golden cheddar grated and stirred into mashed rutabaga sweetens and smooths it in mouth.  Give March at the table renewed flavor! 

MASHED RUTABAGA WITH CHEDDAR AND CRACKED PEPPER
(click title for link to the recipe)