Cream of Potato Soup

I'll post the picture tomorrow if I took one.  Can't remember if I did or not. :)

I made a cream of potato soup, adapted from a recipe that only had carrots, onions and potatoes.  I changed it so much that it really isn't the same recipe it once was.

I took into consideration my husband and myself.  I wanted to make a soup he could eat, but one that I could eat also.  This is a Vegan recipe.  I add the ham at the end for DH and remove my portion before doing so.

I don't normally eat the starchy vegetables, so it didn't bother me that this one meal would be more than the limited one cup portion of starch E2L allows.

So here's what I came up with.

6 good sized potatoes peeled
1 medium onion chopped
2 carrots - small chop
4 celery ribs - small chop
4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup cashews
1 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 10 oz bag frozen cauliflower thawed
black pepper to taste
2 large kale leaves, center stem removed and chiffonaded
ham chopped in bite sized pieces - optional; don't u

Peel the potatoes and cube.  Add them to a good sized pan like a dutch oven.   Add enough water to just cover the potatoes.  Bring to a boil and lower heat to low and simmer until done, about twenty minutes.

Water saute the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic for about five minutes.  I like my veggies to still have some crunch.  Set aside until potatoes are cooked.

If you're going to use the ham, saute with a little canola oil while you're waiting on the potatoes.  Maybe 2 teaspoons.  I try to brown them on all sides for about eight minutes.  Take them off heat and set aside.

When the potatoes are done, remove from heat.  Measure 1 cup of the potatoes, it doesn't matter if a little water ends up in the cup and set aside.  Add the sauteed vegetables to the potatoes.

Place the measured, one cup of potatoes into the blender.  Add the thawed cauliflower, the cup of soymilk, the 1/4 cup of cashews, pepper to taste and enough water from the potatoes to be able to blend well.  Pour this mixture into the potatoes and combine thoroughly.

At this point I took out a serving for myself.  The rest would be for my husband.  I added the ham to the soup.  I didn't add extra salt because the ham has plenty of sodium and was enough flavoring for the soup.

For my portion, I steamed the kale for about five minutes and added it to my soup.  If I were to make this just for myself, I wouldn't add the ham, and I would increase the kale and add a whole bunch of steamed kale to the soup. 

Also, because I made the soup this way, I was able to add some nutritional value to my husbands meal by adding the blended cauliflower, soymilk and cashews.  He didn't know they were in there and I didn't offer the information either.

I'd love to hear from you if you decide to try this soup.  I thought it was really delicious, and for me, the added steamed kale was a nice addition.