Vichyssoise with a Twist

I was playing around on various food sites the other day (as I am apt to do) and came across this article at Culinate about ways to use up your greens. It suggested adding greens to vichyssoise and specified radish greens as a particularly good choice. And it just so happened this lady bought a bunch of radishes the other day….

• 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 4 leeks, washed and thinly sliced (separate the white/light green parts from the dark green)
• 1 large handful of radish greens, washed and roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 quarts water
• 1 cup cream
• 3 tablespoons olive oil or butter
• freshly cracked pepper
• sea salt

1. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the potatoes and white/light green leeks. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes; then add the water. Cover and bring to a boil; then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium high heat. Add the dark green leek slices. Stir to coat with oil. Cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to brown. Lower the heat a tad and continue cooking and occasionally stirring. Stop once the leeks start showing black parts. All in all this probably takes approximately 10 minutes. Set aside.
3. Once the potatoes are tender, add the radish greens to the pot. Cook for a few minutes to allow to wilt. Turn off the heat.
4. Blend the soup using an immersion blender or food processor. Once pureed, stir in the cream.
5. Soup is ready to serve, but to go the traditional route, chill before serving. Either way, make sure to top with the crispy burnt leeks.

(Serves 6-8)

Since there’s no broth, be generous with the salt and pepper. You can of course use broth if you’d like; it’s just not really necessary.

I used light cream. Heavy cream would work, as would half-and-half, or milk, or sour cream, or yogurt. You get the picture. Use what you have and what suites your tastes/dietary needs.

I suggest russets since starchy potatoes work best in this sort of recipe. Any “all-purpose” potato would work as well, but  you probably want to steer clear of red potatoes.