If you’ve read a few of my “recipes” you have probably figured out one of my go-to meals is ground turkey. It is so easy to cook with and to make into almost anything, using any flavor. I cook it with whatever vegetable I have around or new one I want to experiment with. I usually start by sauteing an onion then I add food accordingly. I find that most of the time I need to cook at least one of the veggies first. I feel some vegetables need to be cooked more than turkey, like mushrooms. But broccoli is one that gets added when the turkey is almost cooked. My latest veggie to add to my turkey is a leek. I was in Campbell this weekend signing the studio contract where I am going to have my new evening Nia Class and the city of Campbell has a great farmer’s market. While I was walking down the aisle I saw leeks and I thought, “I should add that to the turkey.” 
So I bought one. I have never cooked with a leek before. I was thinking I would saute a little bit of onion then put the leek in then saute it then add the turkey. But when I chopped up the leek it smelled so onion-y I decided I didn’t need to use an onion. I mean leeks do belong to the same family as onion and garlic. After cooking the turkey until it was almost done, I added some broccoli. When the broccoli was almost done I added a couple of tablespoons of whipped cream cheese with chives. The leeks have such a great flavor I loved them. I am going to cook with them more often.
According to WHFoods vegetables in the same family as leeks, such as onions and garlic supply their nutrients better if they sit for about 5 minutes after cutting before cooking. Furthermore since they all belong to the same family leeks have many of the same health benefits.
Leeks have a lot (over 50% of the daily value) vitamin K. They also have a large quantity of vitamin A. They contain vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), and vitamin B9 (folic acid). They also have a flavanoid shown in research to help protect our blood vessel linings from damage. Leeks also contain compouds that convert to allicin and this has been shown to help relax blood vessels by producing of nitric oxide (NO). With all this good stuff they do for our blood vessels it seems logical they will add to cardiovascular health.
Since leeks are so onion-y for me it will be easy to include them in our diet either cooked right into our food to add an additional layer of flavor and nutrition or even chopped and raw. We can add them to our kale salads or throw them in with our quinoa. I am definitely going to add them in my soups. I think the more vegetables I add to our soups the better.
I really was impressed with the flavor that the leeks add to this dish. I thought they were amazing!
(I took this picture to post to Streamzoo just to show our dinner fixings. I didn’t know I was going to post about leeks until I tasted them and loved them. the leeks are the green things chopped up on the right.)
Do you include leeks in your diet? How? Do you cook them? Do you eat them raw?
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