Creamy potato and leek soup

Missing front tooth.

Braces.

What am I, like twelve?

My tongue is rubbed absolutely raw on one side from the metal bracket on my molar. This means that even swallowing is painful, since my tongue does this inadvertent bobbing motion whenever I swallow. I imagine everyone's tongue does it, you just don't notice it until you start bleeding because of it. Both sides of molars are still sore from the spacers they put in some three weeks back, so chewing is pretty much out. Suffice to say, I'm on a soup binge this week. And probably next week.

I've always wanted to make potato and leek soup. I love the simplicity and the heartiness of it. Potatoes and leeks! So much flavor from two ingredients.

This is a recipe I lifted (almost) directly from my newly discovered How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. It's everything I've dreamed of and more. Just like this potato and leek soup recipe.

Creamy Potato and Leek Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
3 medium potatoes, any type, peeled and cut into small cubes (the smaller, the quicker this'll be ready)
2-3 leeks, white and light green parts only, well washed and sliced into thin rings (Trader Joe's package of 2 leeks are perfect for this)
salt and black pepper
1 tsp white pepper (optional, but great if you have it)
4 cups vegetable stock, warm
1/2 to 1 cup of cream, sour cream or yogurt
chives, for garnish (or parsley, basil, chervil, etc)

Instructions
Heat the butter in a large, deep pot over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the leeks and potatoes. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper (and white pepper if using) and stir, cooking for 2-3 minutes.

Add the warm vegetable stock and cook until the potatoes and leeks are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender or regular blender in batches, blend the soup until thoroughly pureed. Stir in the cream/sour cream/yogurt. If you're using yogurt, don't let it boil. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with minced chives.

Variations
If you want vichyssoise, cool the soup completely and garnish with chives just before serving.

Vegan vichyssoise: Use oil instead of butter. After you've pureed the soup, let the soup cool a bit, then stir in coarsely chopped ripe flesh of 1-2 avocadoes instead of the cream. Chill thoroughly before garnishing.

Cook about 1 cup of shredded carrots or cabbage along with potatoes and leeks. Increase stock proportionately so the soup doesn't become too thick.

Grate a little parmesan over the finished soup.

Add another vegetable in place of a portion of the potatoes (Bittman recommends asparagus or peas).