I love leeks. I love potato leek soup, it's one of my favourites. I love how leeks remind me of the Netherlands and when I first saw them in the markets there I was surprised to see how long they were compared to the puny ones we seem to get in our grocery stores. I remember admiring how often they were picked up and put into grocery baskets. I'm still curious to know how exactly they prepare their leeks.
Last Sunday when I was strawberry picking with the boys, I saw a mountain of tall and plump leeks at the farm. Knowing that they freeze well and knowing that a bunch of 2 (maybe 3 if you're lucky) small leeks in the winter can go for upwards of $4 (not to mention they come from Mexico or further...) I thought to myself, hmmm... let's buy 10. So off I go with my 10 giant leeks, sand and dirt and all. Cleaning leeks is a pain. Cut off the tips, slice them in half, peel them back and scrub, scrub, scrub and scrub.
I'm so tired this week that that bag of leeks could have stayed on my counter until the weekend. Lunches were made and I was about to go plop myself in front of the mind-numbing tv but I thought that those leeks just needed some attention. They took about 20 minutes to slice and clean, plus an extra 10 to chop them up and stuff them in freezer bags.
It's madness, really, to think that I spent 30 precious weeknight minutes cleaning and chopping leeks for some creamy soup sometime in January. I suppose that in my quest to eat locally, it's a small time investment for big winter taste payoff. While it's true that I would probably walk past the imported leeks this winter, I would probably buy the yellow Ontario onions instead. Mmm... French Onion soup...
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