Celebrating the Humble Leek

We love British food here and ae keen to champion all food types and producers for the bigger picture of supporting British farms and farmers so when British Leeks got in contact to help promote the humble leek, I couldn’t say no.

We actually tried a recipe from their brilliant, ideas filled recipes a couple of years ago, opting for Leek and Pulled Ham Bubble and Squeak with a Poached Egg and I still make that for an easy supper option today.

I found it really hard to choose another recipe but, in the end, opted for a Leek, Mushroom and Oven-Roasted Tomato Quiche and believe me, it was the right choice.

All the recipes on the website are really easy to follow and I even managed this one-pastry and all with the two children buzzing around the kitchen.

I left out the mushrooms because I wanted to eat the quiche the next day too and I have a thing about cold mushrooms-I know, weird right?

The pastry was delicious, especially with the sneaky addition of the cheese and I am not going to lie, I did sprinkle a little extra cheese into the creamy eggy mix.

I loved the oven roasted tomatoes and was so surprised at how easy they were to do and the addition of the fresh thyme was delicious.

I also was very impressed at how well the chives went with the egg mixture so I think we might try growing some chives ourself this year. Especially seeing as we have so many eggs here.
The stars of the show were the leeks thouggh and I can defiantly see why the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians valued leeks for their therapeutic properties and Roman Emperor Nero ate large quantities to improve his voice.

From soothing sore throats to helping keep gout and kidney stones at bay, leeks are packed full of health benefits and are commonly used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments.

Easier to digest than onions, leeks have laxative, antiseptic, diuretic and anti-arthritic properties. And, if eaten regularly, here are some of the ways leeks can help you to stay healthy:

Containing the equivalent of one eighth of an adult’s daily potassium requirement, leeks encourage the efficient functioning of kidneys and are effective as a diuretic.

Eating lots of leeks has been shown to reduce ‘bad’ cholesterol – and at the same time increase levels of ‘good’ cholesterol. This is important for preventing the build up of blood vessel plaques that are found in some types of heart disease. If the plaques grow too large or rupture, they can cause a heart attack or stroke.

Allium vegetables including leeks can also help to lower high blood pressure – another factor that can contribute to heart attacks and strokes.

Research has shown that eating leeks regularly can help protect against cancer, particularly, prostate, colon and stomach cancer. Quercetin, an antioxidant present in the Allium family, is recognised as a cancer-blocking compound.

Leeks are a very good source of manganese and vitamin B6, vitamin C, folate and iron. These nutrients all work together in the body to stabilise blood sugar by slowing down the absorption of sugars from the intestinal tract.

Leeks are a good source of the B vitamin folate, containing between 15 and 49 per cent of the RNI for an adult. Folate is important for pregnant women as it can help reduce the risk of neural tube defects like spina bifida. One portion of cooked leeks contains almost a third of an adult’s recommended daily intake. So actually, the quiche was inadvertently helping the baby too.

I also think with their plume-like foliage, they are a really pretty vegetable and should be kept on show in the kitchen rather than the vegetable rack.

What are you waiting for? Rekindle your love of leeks and don’t forget to buy British.

To find out more about British Leeks, visit their website for recipes, competitions and more.

We were sent the ingredients to make our delicious quiche by British Leeks but all opinions are our own.