Simple Potato Soup to Start the Fall off Right

This potato soup is a great dish for beginners, since it only includes a handful of ingredients and steps--some of which can make or break it--but for the most part, as long as you throw everything in, the soup does all the work on its own. We got lucky and had just picked the last carrots out of the garden, so for us they were fresh. Since this was our first year having a garden, being able to eat anything out of it has been VERY exciting.

The main thing though that's really great about this soup is that you can tailor it to fit your individual tastes. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure soup. You can add more of your favorite veggies such as corn or leeks or kale; any extra fresh herbs of your choice; you can make it spicy; add meat such as bacon or sausage; or even make a vegetarian version--the options are endless. We even use this soup typically as a base for making clam or corn chowders.

Once you start, experimenting only makes it that much more fun, but for now we're going to give you the simple version--the one we made last night in only an hour with homemade garlic bread on the side. Keep in mind what we said about tailoring--if there's something you want more or less of, go for it.

Hearty Potato Soup
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet yellow onion
• A tab of butter
• 4 or 5 yukon or large red potatoes
• 2 or 3 stalks of celery
• 2 or 3 large carrots
• Chicken broth (about 64 oz. if store-bought)
• 1/3 to a 1/2 of a pint of half-and-half
• Seasonings of your choice--we like fresh thyme, parsley, garlic salt, and sometimes green onions or chives

Preparation:

Melt butter in a soup pot on medium heat, making sure not to burn it (if it becomes brown, wash it out and start again--it really throws the taste off). After the butter is melted, throw in your chopped onions and celery with your seasonings, and sauté them until cooked, for about five minutes. When the celery and onions are soft, add your chopped carrots and potatoes and the chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Once the soup is boiling, bring it down to medium-low heat and let it simmer for about a half hour or until your potatoes are done to your liking. Add seasoning to taste if needed. Put the soup on low temperature, and give it 3-5 minutes to cool before adding the cream. (If the cream is added while the soup is too hot, it can curdle.) While stirring the soup, slowly add in the cream; mix well and serve.