R E C I P E S

Recipe of the Week: Cream of Potato Soup

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Creamy vegetable soups are delicious and nutritious, and satisfying enough to eat as a whole meal. Unlike creamy soups served in restaurants, however, this homemade cream of potato soup recipe is low in saturated fat and full of nutrients instead of drowned in butter and cream. The basic cream of potato recipe can be easily modified to make a variety of creamy vegetable soups.

Ingredients:

4 cups broth (you can use either vegetable broth or chicken broth, see chicken broth recipe, or use a high-quality low-sodium broth like the ones from Pacific Natural Foods)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
3 cups Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 tsp 2% Greek-style yogurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions:
1. Bring a 2.5-3 quart pot to medium heat, then add the olive oil.
2. Add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, sautee for a couple of minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft enough to pierce easily with a fork, about 15 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and cool for 5-10 minutes.

5. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup right in the cooking pot (be careful to keep the slots on the side of the blender immersed in the liquid otherwise it will splatter).
6. Ladle the blended soup into a bowl, garnish with croutons, a teaspoon of sour cream or Greek-style yogurt, and/or some fresh chopped parsley.
* The key to getting the ratio of vegetable to broth right for a nice final consistency is to add just enough broth to cover the vegetables in the pot.

Variations on the theme:

Cream of potato and leek soup:

  • Add 1 whole leek (white parts only), washed, and cut into 1/2-inch strips at step 2.
  • Reduce the amount of potato by half a cup.

Cream of cauliflower soup:

  • Add 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets at step 2.
  • Reduce the amount of potato by 2 cups.

Cream of potato and turnip soup:

  • Add 1 large turnip, cut into 1-inch cubes at step 2.
  • Reduce the amount of potato by 1 cup.