Creamy Potato Soup!

Last night I was trying to decide what to make for dinner and I suddenly got in the mood for something warm. Something creamy.

Comfort food.

And I had a sudden brainwave. POTATO SOUP!! I hadn't had it in ages and I had 4 lbs of yellow potatoes waiting to be used. And I was determined to make it without milk since that would be cheating on my cleanse and I wanted to see if I COULD make a soup that was both creamy and dairy-free.

So I looked in my Vegan with a Vengance cookbook and found... Creamy Potato Asparagus Soup! And I just so happened to have asparagus in the freezer! I tweaked the recipe just a tad and this is what I came up with:

1. Wash 4 lbs of potatoes and cut into 1-2 inch chunks (I like to leave the skins on). Put into a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to boil and boil for 15 minutes (or until soft), covered with pot lid.
2. Add 1 lb of asparagus (stems cut into 1 inch pieces and tips cut into 2 inch pieces). Continue boiling for 3 minutes and then remove and drain water. Set aside in large mixing bowl and wash out the pot.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pot. Dice 1 large onion and add to the olive oil. Saute for 5 minutes. 
4. Add 5 garlic cloves (chopped fine or pressed through a garlic press), 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Saute for 1 minute.
5. Add 6 cups of vegetable broth and 2 bay leaves. Boil for 10 minutes, uncovered.
6. Remove bay leaves and add potatoes and asparagus. Heat until mixture is warm.
7. Remove half of the mixture and puree in blender (I did this bit by bit so as to not overwhelm my blender and then poured the pureed mixture into the mixing bowl that had held my potatoes and asparagus. You can puree the whole mixture if you want totally creamy soup. I just did half so that it was creamy AND chunky!).
8. Add pureed mixture back to the pot and stir. Add dill, chives, and rosemary (about 1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon... depending on how much you like those herbs!)
9. Heat mixture on low.
10. Serve!!!

It was super yummy.

The picture doesn't do it justice. As my sister said "It looks disgusting, but it tastes divine." Yeah. You puree potatoes and asparagus and try making it look good! :)