Potato Soup

I realized with some dismay that I had a nearly full container of practically unused soymilk in the fridge that needed to be used asap. I decided that the quickest way to make good use of soymilk is either hot cocoa...or soup!

Now I will surely be using it for hot cocoa over the next few days. Despite that, I did some search for soup recipes using soymilk because I didn't have any good ones on hand for the ingredients that are currently available in my kitchen. So my search ended on one of my FAVORITE foodie blogs... the famous Fatfree Vegan Kitchen!

If you haven't been there, go there NOW and drool at her massive collection of delicious recipes. :)

So I found a particular recipe on her site called "Quick and Easy Potato Soup." This indeed was quick and easy! It called for something called "Nutritional Yeast," which I love-love-LOVE but it might be hard to come by in some places & you might not have seen it before. It basically adds a "cheesy" flavor to vegan food, and is a good source of B vitamins. I avoided it for years because I didn't want to spend any money on any bulk food item I wasn't sure I'd use often or even like. But now that I have it, I'm hooked and use it a lot! Here's a picture of what it looks like:

Yummm, nutritional yeastttt... (It kinda sounds gross, but it really packs a great flavor!)

Never one to imitate well, I did not follow the original recipe exactly. I won't copy and paste her recipe here, of course (please follow the link to see her original masterpiece!) but here's my modified version:

Potato Soup
(serves 2)

About 1 1/2 - 2 cups diced yellow potato
2/3 cup soymilk
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/2 red onion
1 1/2 tsp earth balance vegan margarine
a big pinch of dried rosemary needles
1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
a sprinkle of smoked paprika* (not necessary, but delicious!)

DIRECTIONS
In a medium soup pot, heat the pot on med-low. Add the earth balance & sautee the onions until fragrant. Add the diced potato & rosemary. Combine well & stir until warm.

Add the soymilk & veggie broth. Mix well & cover with the lid. Once it starts boiling, simmer for 10 - 12 minutes.

After 10 - 12 minutes, turn off the heat and transfer the soup to a high speed blender. Add the nutritional yeast & blend thoroughly. If the soup is too thick, add more soymilk in splashes until it blends easily. (It's easier to thin out a soup than to thicken one).

Transfer soup to a bowl and sprinkle with smoked paprika.

Notes: The soup is great on its own, but the smoked paprika adds a bold but complimentary flavor that your tongue will more than appreciate. Don't use regular paprika - it doesn't taste the same at all.