And now to the temple

Here, we combine some of Annalena's favorite things: underused vegetables, soup, and olive oil.

I was asked, many times over this holiday season, about my holiday baking. Honestly, boys and girls, women and men, if I had to give up one area of cooking completely, I would give up desserts in a minute. I do NOT enjoy making desserts. I find them agonizing, a "punctuation mark" that people really do not need. I am more of a savory eater myself. But the world being what it is, dessert is a necessary.

But if I could only cook ONE type of food, it would be soup. I LOVE making soup. You can make a soup as simple as can be (my type of soup), or complex, and really, this is one of those places where, contrary to belief, you can NOT get away with poor ingredients. You can make it rich, or lean. This one is fairly lean.

Leeks, in my opinion, are underused. They are too expensive in grocery stores, they look like a lot of work, and they take a long time to cook. SOMETIMES. Yes, if you get the humongous
"caveman leeks," that could crack a skull, they will take a long time to cook, and they take some work. If you are fortunate enough to find small, or medium sized leeks, make this soup.

Leeks have almost no calories. The only calories in this soup come from the chicken stock and the olive oil. If there are two hundred calories in a portion, there's a lot. The soup has so much flavor that you won't need a lot. And it's quick.

First, you will need four cups of finely sliced or chopped leeks. That's about 8-10 small ones. How you do it , is to make two vertical cuts down each leek, at 90 degree angles to each other. That is, cut a cross in the leek. Then use your knife to mince them. It will take less time than you think. You also need - now don't let me scare you - a bouquet garni - of a stalk of celery, cut in half, a sprig of rosemary, a few sprigs of thyme, and two bayleaves. A "bouquet garni" puts all of these in a piece of cheesecloth - go buy some, and get a good one - and then ties them together. You will also need two garlic cloves that you will slice thinly, and a quart each of chicken stock and water. Finally, four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (Incidentally, can we put a moratorium on the acronym EVOO this year? That is the only thing, short of Ms. Ray retiring, that would make me happy). Heat the olive oil and add the leeks. Lower the heat and cook them gently until they soften. Add a pinch of salt to this. Then add the garni, the stock and water, and the garlic. Bring this all to a simmer, and let it alone for twenty minutes.

Pull out the garni ,and you're done. Leeks have such a strong, wonderful fragrance and flavor, that you may very well feel like you're eating French onion soup. That being the case, you may want to toast some bread and put some gruyere or some other type of cheese on top of it. Serve t his with something else. It's a bit of a lean dish. If you serve eight people, you've got a half cup of stock and half a tablespoon of olive oil as your big calorie contributors. So, perhaps you want to eat the whole pot yourself? I give you leave to do so.

I will be back again tomorrow, with two wonderful, hearty recipes. One is Italian, and is actually a class of recipes called "stracotto," and the other, a wonderful Puerto Rican dish from Daisy Martinez, that I do not make often enough