Random Food Fridays - Another Farm Box Soup

Look - Capay Valley soil included with every beet at no extra charge!

I love to shop at the farmers' market, but I also get a CSA box. I like the way I get surprises and must bring in some creativity to insure the carefully grown produce is used before it's too late. I love soup and Winter is soup time. Homemade soup is also the packed lunch most likely to keep from going out on a splurge. Healthy, yummy, cheap and easy.

This week's farm box included sweet potatoes, leeks, carrots, golden beet and some citrus, kale and avocados. This soup includes leeks, sweet potatoes, carrots, golden beets, red potatoes, some diced ham , broth and fresh herbs from my garden.

Because all these Winter veg are so un-fussy, I just sliced and diced them and threw them in a big pot with olive oil and a little salt and pepper.

From my garden - parsley, sage, tarragon and thyme.

Voila! Soup!

Winter Farm Box Soup

3 leeks, white and light green part only, sliced lengthwise then sliced into 1/4 inch slices and washed

4 small carrots, diced

4 smallish red skinned potatoes, diced

4 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

3 small golden beets, scrubbed well and diced (reserve greens for another use)

9 oz. lean ham, diced

2 tbsp. fresh minced herbs of your choice

10 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Place a large soup pot over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Add all other ingredients, except the broth, and toss to coat in the oil. Saute until the leeks become translucent. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until all the vegetables are tender and the broth has become slightly thickened by the potatoes.

Makes a lot - about 12 cups.