How to Clean Leeks

How to Clean Leeks, it's easy! Here are instructions on how to clean leeks 2 ways — chopped for soup and for whole leeks.

Consider the leek.

It's majestic, a titan in the onion family.

Mostly just the white and light green parts are eaten, though the darker green parts have plenty of flavour and can either be cooked longer to tenderize them, or used when making home-made soup stock.

Leeks Are Dirty

The challenge when cooking with leeks is that they are almost always dirty. When leeks are grown, soil is piled up around them, so that more of the leek is hidden from the sun, and therefore lighter in colour and more tender.

What produces a beautiful leek, a long pale body, also results in sand and dirt being lodged deep inside the leek.

Two Ways to Clean Leeks

There are basically two ways to clean leeks, the method you use depends upon how you are going to use the leeks in cooking. The easiest way is to prepare them chopped for use in soup.

A little more challenging is preparing a leek for use in a recipe that requires whole leeks. Both methods are detailed here.

Leek Stew with Black Olives and Wine

This leek stew with black olives is a budget-friendly, vegetarian / vegan Spring recipe. The white wine flavour is subtle but surely makes the difference!

Leek stew is one of my favourite Spring recipes. I love onion and I love leeks even more, so for me, this recipe has the perfect flavour. The black olives and white wine will give it a special flavour. This leek stew is very easy to cook, no special cooking skills needed, but the preparation part will take a while.

Be careful when you rinse the leeks because dirt usually hides under their leaves and if you don’t like the taste of sand in your food, be patient and clean them thoroughly. Here’s a great guide on how to clean leeks. Maybe it will help you out.

I remember the first time I cooked this leek stew recipe… it turned out great, but unfortunately I didn’t know that leeks have to be carefully rinsed and an unwanted “extra-ingredient” was added to my meal.

This dish is perfect for those of you who are on a diet too. It’s low in calories and high in nutrients and fibers!

Enjoy!

Leek and Black Olives Stew

This leek stew with black olives is a budget-friendly, vegetarian/ vegan Spring recipe. The white wine flavour is subtle but surely makes the difference!

Prep time - 15 mins Cook time - 40 mins Total time - 55 mins Recipe type - Main Serves - 4+

Ingredients

• 1 kg coarsely chopped leeks

• 100g black olives, pitted (and sliced - optional; I let mine whole)

• 1 medium onion, diced

• ½ cup white wine

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 bunch of dill

• 1 bunch of parsley

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

• 1 tsp sea salt (or more, to taste)

• ½ tsp ground pepper

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan.

2. Add diced onion and sauté for 5 minutes until golden.

3. Add the chopped leeks.

4. Add ½ cup of white wine and cover with a lid.

5. Check every 10-15 minutes and add more water if necessary.

6. Let it stew over medium heat until tender (about 30-40 minutes).

7. Add chopped dill and parsley, ground pepper, salt, olives and tomato paste.

8. Stew for another 10 minutes.

9. Serve! It can also be served cold, but I prefer it warm.

Vegan Beetroot Borscht For Kids!

This beetroot borscht is a healthy vegan soup recipe inspired by the traditional Ukrainian borscht soup, and it is perfect for any season!

Today is a cold Autumn day. The wind is howling and the leaves started to fall. I really wanted to make a hot, flavourful soup to warm me up from inside-out and enjoy it while I watch a good, old film. I decided to make this lovely, ruby-coloured beetroot borscht.

This beetroot borscht recipe is similar to the Ukrainian borscht, but unlike the original recipe, it was made vegan, as it does not contain any beef broth.

Beetroots are amazing veggies and should be eaten as often as possible! This beetroot borscht is a great way to add more beetroots into your diet.

Give it a try! I’m sure it will become one of your kids favourite soup recipes! 🙂

Vegan Beetroot Borscht

Prep time - 10 mins Cook time - 30 mins Total time - 40 mins Recipe type: Soup Cuisine - Ukrainian Serves - 6+

Ingredients

• 1 beetroot, chopped in small cubes

• 1 big carrot, grated

• 2 onions, diced

• ½ cup celery root, chopped in small cubes (or grated, as you wish)

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

• 3 tbsp vinegar

• ½ cup chopped celery leaves (or lovage leaves)

• sea salt, to taste

• ⅓ tsp ground pepper

• 3L water

• chopped parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large pot.

2. Add diced onions and sauté for 5 minutes, until golden.

3. Add water.

4. Add chopped beetroot, celery root, grated carrot , salt and pepper.

5. Boil for 30 minutes.

6. Add vinegar and chopped celery leaves.

7. Garnish with parsley and serve hot!