Potato Soup

I think the only part of cold weather I like is making cozy, hearty, warm soups! This is my twist on a hugely fattening soup. It is really delicious! I made this last week, we took our kids to a Trunk or Treat in the back of the neighborhood and it was so cold outside all I wanted to do was come home and eat some of this!

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes, peeled, cubed

2 T butter

1 large onion

1 carrot, diced small

1 stalk celery, diced small

2 cartons chicken stock

2/3 cup half & half

2 t salt

fresh cracked pepper to taste

 

Toppings : grated cheese, bacon crumbles, spring onion, fresh parsley

 

Directions:

Saute onion, carrots, celery in the butter for about 3-4 minutes until the onions begin to soften, add the potatoes and stir for a minute or two, be careful the potatoes don't stick, keep it moving, I added a few splashes of chicken stock to keep mine from sticking but if you don't mind added fat butter would be best. Add the stock stirring to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium low for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.

Diced potatoes

Diced Veggies

This is a picture of the potatoes and veggies during the saute with a splash of chicken stock.

 Then you add the rest of your stock.

Once the boil is done you slowly stir in your cream, or half and half. At this point the color of the soup is not  creamy looking, if you aren't concerned with the calorie/fat content of the soup I would add another 1/2 cup of cream. However if you are trying to keep this lower in fat and cholesterol then try this trick I use. I take my stick blender and run it through the soup for about 30 seconds a couple of times. You have to be careful, you can quickly turn this into 'mashed potato soup' (I did that once!) If you don't have a stick blender then take about 2-3 cups of the soup out of the pot, blend in your traditional blender and then add it back in the pot. At this point you need to add your salt and pepper and then taste it to see if you need more.

Now you are ready to serve and top with whatever makes you happy, cheese, bacon, scallions.

Weight Watcher Friends: This soup has 4 points per 1.5 cup serving. If you add toppings other than the scallions then you need to adjust your points.