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www.groovekorea.com / March 2014 72 FOOD & DRINK Edited by Josh Foreman (joshforeman@groovekorea.com) T he annual boil-over of irritation at having slogged through two months of cold, wet darkness is washing over all of us, and it’s getting serious. We’re digging through our freezers in search of quick dinners and drinking too much whiskey, just to forget, for one friggin’ second, that our binding win- ter clothes are a continuing reality. March is hardly enough to pull us out of our funk; freezing rain and wind have replaced the numbing stillness of winter, and it still sucks. Can we just forget winter ever happened? Can we just skip over the showers and get right to the flowers? We need a restart, a refresh, something to keep us out of the ice cream and invested in our bright futures; more green things, less powdered sugar. But since everyone’s willpower is likely hanging by a thread, we’ll take it slow and start with something simple. Potato leek soup is an easy 30-minute affair that comes together so pain lessly it’s almost meditative: chopping, stirring, chopping and stirring. Ahhhh. By the time you sit down to enjoy the creamy simplicity of this elegant soup, you’ll forget about having been pelted by hail on the way home from the mart. Also, if you’ve never played with leeks, now’s the time! They’re one of the sexiest vegetables: long, dark green stems bound tightly around a firm, smooth, white neck. They beg from afar to be unwrapped, even under the harsh glare of grocery store lighting. Choose leeks that are perky, straight and happy-looking, with a distinctive oniony smell about them and no discoloration around the white part. Look closely and don’t shy from the amount of dirt on the stems — the dirtiest leeks often yield the best flavor. Grab a bag, throw it over your shoulder and head home for a sweet springtime reboot. About the writer: Shelley DeWees worked as a vegan chef for a Buddhist monastery before moving to Seoul. She is a columnist for Groove Korea. Her opinions do not neccesarily refect those of the magazine. See her website, www.seoulveggiekitchen.com. — Ed. A simple soup for the final cold stretch SEOuL vEggIE KITChEN Column and Photos by shelley deWees We need a restart, a refresh, something to keep us out of the ice cream and invested in our bright futures.