Potato, leek and watercress soup

The chill in the weather has inspired me to make soups! This one turned out incredibly delicious although the ingredients are very simple.

Ingredients

8 medium potatoes
3 medium leeks, trimmed
A generous handful of watercress
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
Some parsley
Chicken bouillon (I used a very nice bouillon they sell in cubes over here)
Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

Scrub and chop the potatoes into chunks, slice the leeks, dice the onions, chop the garlic. Fry the onions in a large pan with some olive oil. Add potatoes and leeks, mix well, add garlic, mix and add the bouillon. Add more water to nearly fill the pan. Season with salt & pepper to taste, reduce to a moderate simmer and cook for about 45 minutes. Add the watercress and parsley, just long enough to wilt, then put the lot into a blender (I had to do it in two batches), whizz it well, return to the pan to reheat it a little bit, taste and adjust seasoning and serve with crackers or French bread.

We had seven bowls of soup between the two of us (not all at once!).

Nutrition tip

Watercress is very good for cleansing the lungs and it's a rich source of vitamin C, calcium, folic acid, potassium and beta-carotene.

Leeks are rich in minerals: iron, potassium, magnesium, copper and calcium. They are low in calories and also contain a lot of different vitamins: A, B1, B2, B3, B9 (folic acid) and C.

Potatoes are rich in potassium (concentrated in the skin), vitamins A, B and flavonoids (good antioxidants). Without lashings of butter, potatoes are not fattening, as they are 70/80% water.