Sunday Soup Day

This weekend, I made two different winter soups.  I wanted something that Matteo would be able to eat as well, so I made a vegetable stock from scratch, without salt, and used it as the base for both batches.  The first was leek + red potato and the second was red lentil + turnip.  To make the broth, I chopped up whatever vegetables I had on hand {onion, celery, carrot, parsley, ginger} and boiled them in plain water for about 30 minutes.  To make the leek + red potato soup, I sauteed a shallot and four cloves of garlic in a little olive oil and butter and then added a chopped leek, three stalks of chopped celery, three diced red potatoes, some black pepper and enough vegetable stock to cover.  After it came to boil, I let it simmer for another 30 minutes and then pureed it in a blender {making it baby friendly; chunky would be yummy, too!}  I added a tiny bit of milk in at the end and brought it back to a simmer before serving.  For the red lentil + turnip soup, I sauteed an onion and four cloves of garlic in about two tablespoons of olive oil.  Then I added the chopped turnip, two stalks of chopped celery, one chopped carrot, some minced ginger and a pinch of ground coriander and continued to sautee.  Then I added about two cups of canned, salt-free tomatoes, one cup of red lentils and enough vegetable stock to cover.  After it came to a boil, I continued to simmer until the lentils were tender {just over 30 minutes}.  I pureed this batch, too, reheated and served.  We added salt to our individual portions, which was fine.  Matteo ate them both, but he definitely preferred the leek + red potato {actually, I think we all did--it was very rich and velvety!}