Potato Soup

Potato soup and summer go together like plaid and spring formals. Truth is, we had a few extra potatoes and needed something to do with them. Potato soup is easy, filling, and goes great with bread or a salad. Maybe it's not the ideal time of year for potato soup, but it's still tasty. And it's easily made vegetarian!


Potato Soup (Serves 6-8, depending on how hungry you are!)

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter (please, use butter instead of margarine. Margarine is so gross.)
1 large onion
Optional: 2 stalks celery
Optional: 1 1/2 cups broccoli crowns, diced
5-6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (Use 5 if adding broccoli)
2 carrots, diced
3 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken (or vegetable) bouillon powder, or six small bouillon cubes, or three large bouillon cubes - enough to flavor six cups of liquid, in other words
ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1/4 cup fresh parsley, or 1 tablespoon dried parsley (Dried parsley is pretty gross and fresh is pretty cheap.)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Dice the potatoes, carrots, and (optionally) broccoli. Add the potatoes, carrots, and bouillon to the three cups in a medium stockpot and cover.


Bring to a boil and cook for ten minutes until tender. If you're adding broccoli, toss it in around the five minute mark. You don't want it to get mushy!

Meanwhile, dice the onion (and optional celery) and sauté in butter in a larger stockpot. You're going to add the potatoes and carrots later, so you need something that can hold a good 3-4 quarts. Sauté until brown.


Browned onions are delicious. Add the flour and stir for two minutes. You're making a roux, which is a delicious, creamy, milky base.

Whisk in the milk, parsley, and thyme, and bring to a simmer, still whisking. Let it bubble for two minutes, making sure that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.


When it's slightly thickened, add the potato / carrot / bouillon mixture. Stir through until mixed.

Serve warm! Any leftover soup can be refrigerated (after cooling) and reheated on the stove later.


Robert's take: Potato soup is one of those childhood dishes that's sort of a comfort food. It's not like I ever crave it, but it's easy, quick, and cheap to make. And it's so, so easy to adapt: want it thicker? Add more butter / flour to the roux in equal proportions. Want to add green onions or cauliflower? That works, too. This is a good base recipe, if not a little simple.

Rebecca's take: I'm not really a soup person, but this is pretty good! Especially with crackers or homemade sourdough bread... And you can feel like you're eating something healthy. Vegetables!