This post is part of a series with Love Local Food, highlighting recipes and tips for some of the awesome ingredients in their weekly local food boxes! They are a new company here in the Comox Valley with a passion for supporting local businesses. They offer no contact order and delivery to connect you with some of the amazing food vendors we have in our area.
This week we are talking about leeks, a delicious member of the onion family. Leeks have a mild flavour that adds a nice depth to many different dishes. They are a good source of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as minerals including magnesium and iron. Leeks also contain inulin, a type of prebiotic fibre. What exactly does that mean? You may have heard of probiotics, or microorganisms that help our digestion and keep our guts healthy. Well, prebiotics are types of non-digestible carbohydrates or fibre that feed those helpful bacteria – thus, they help with gut health.
To prep your leeks, first chop off the root end. Most recipes call for the tougher/coarse dark green parts to be chopped off and discarded as well. You can save them to use for soup stock, or they may work in some recipes that involve a longer cooking time to soften them up (for example, in this buttered leeks recipe). Slice the leeks in half from top to bottom lengthwise and rinse well, fanning the layers apart under running water to get in between. If your recipe needs chopped/sliced leeks, you can also give them another rinse when they’re all chopped up to really get out any trapped dirt or debris.
Leek Recipes
- Creamy Mushroom and Leek Chicken Breasts
- A classic & comforting potato leek soup
- Parmesan Roasted Leeks
- Leek Salad with Apple & Carrot (yup, they can be eaten raw too!)
- Quick sauteed leeks
- Creamy Cauliflower & Leek Soup
Thanks so much for featuring my salad recipe! 🙂
My pleasure – love your post & recipe! 🙂