More Literary Food (This Could Totally be a Thing!)

This weekend is going to be a tease for me...because its supposed to be about 60 degrees. I am SO ready for Spring already (and all the fantastic toe-nail polish colors that entails)! Today, however, is still only a high of 51...and one benefit to cooler weather, is that I don't get too much flack for making soup! I really enjoy soup, actually; there's so many different kinds you can make; you can thicken them to stews, make chili, cream soups....I love to experiment! Hubby, however, is just not a big soup person. I am hoping he'll be a little more enthusiastic about tonight's soup, because it has shrimp in it; which he adores.
This recipe is also out of The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques, and was always one that sounded especially tasty to me!
...Pansy lifted the lid on the huge soup cauldron, reciting what she had learned from Friar Hugo. "My first course is Shrimp'n'Hotroot Soup. There must be no shortage of this, as it's a great favorite with otters. They've been known to eat many basins of it at one sitting. This is how I went about making it."

Shrimp'N'Hotroot Soup
From The Redwall Cookbook, by Brian Jacques

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium leeks, washed well and chopped
32oz. vegetable stock
3 medium potatotes, peeled and chopped
3 tsp. curry powder, or chili powder (or more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. peeled, cooked shrimp, or prawns, sliced if large
1 C. milk

Directions:
In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and leeks and cook, stirring frequesntly, until soft - about 5 minutes (do not let the vegetable brown)
Add the stock, potatoes, curry or chili powder, and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes are very soft, 15-20 minutes
Add the shrimp and milk and gently heat. Serve with crusty bread.

Now, this was not a spicy soup, which is what I anticipated from the name; but it was still super tasty! You could add a dash of ground cayenne to add a little zip. This recipe calls for potatoes, which I am not going to include. I substituted a full head of cauliflower chopped into florets instead.
Also, I decided to use both curry AND chili powder in this recipe. It gave the flavor a pleasant punch!
I did not choose to serve mine with crusty bread, as that is one of my nemeses. Instead I ate just soup. Although, I think if you lessened the liquid (or added some garbanzo flour to thicken it up slightly) it could go very well served over cauliflower rice (which you could even make basmati style for a little Indian kick)!