Potato Leek Soup, Vegan Style, Garnished with Roasted Red Peppers

A couple of friend were over here today, he's a vegetarian and she's a true vegan. So, vegan soup was on the lunch menu. This potato leek soup was nice and creamy despite its no-animal-products condition. It takes about 1/2 hour total to make this soup.

Ingredients:

• 4 well-scrubbed, thin skinned potatoes
• 4 cups vegetable broth (I used 1 container of Swanson's veggie broth but you could use homemade stock or veggie bouillon.)
  
• 3 large leeks, white parts only
• 2 Tbl. olive oil
  
• several sprigs curly parsley
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• salt
• pepper (I used Alessi lemon pepper)
• roasted red peppers to garnish

Procedure:

1. Cube the potatoes and put in a large soup pot
2. Cover the potatoes with the broth and boil until the potatoes are soft
3. Cut the ends off the leeks, slice in half lengthwise and then slice into 1/2-3/4 inch slices. Wash thoroughly.
4. Sauté the leeks in the olive oil until soft.
5. Add the leeks to the potatoes & broth
   
6. Using an immersion blender (or in a blender or food processor) whir until smooth
   
7. Finely mince the parsley and the garlic and add to the soup
8. Simmer slowly until the garlic loses it's raw bite
9. Serve hot or cool.
10. Garnish with a spoonful of coursely chopped roasted red peppers