Very Simple, but very yummy, Potato Soup Recipe

For some reason I felt a little weird today, conscious of the act of dressing up my food and making it pose. Look, here it is in a bowl I never use for soup, like that dress I have in the back of the closet I never wear just to stay home.  I don't why, but it felt weird.

I'm always looking for foods that most of my family will eat. If 4 out of 5 of my kids will eat it, plus myself and my husband, then we have a winner. One of those is my very simple to make, potato soup. From nothing in the pot or on the counter to finish is less than an hour. Closer to 45 minutes.

And even my three year old eats it. Although tonight he protested the need for a spoon and simply ate it using the bread as a scoop.

Potato Soup Recipe
Ingredients

• medium yellow onion
• 3 pounds organic potatoes (I'll tell you why they should be organic later)
• 1 to 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 to 2 tsp salt or bullion of your choice
• 8 to 12 oz Colby Jack cheese
• Corn starch (optional)

Directions

There will be lots of pictures with the directions, probably more than words. But hey, I've written two blogs in as many days. I'm happy with me!!

Slice up your onion into smallish pieces.

In a large pot, place 1 to 2 TBSP olive oil on medium/low heat. Put the onions in the pot and cover. You're pretty much going to sauté / steam them until they are pretty clear. It'll take about 10 minutes. Keep the lid on, but give them a stir every minute or two. You don't want them to burn, which is why you're using a lower heat, but you want them fully cooked before you start the soup. That way, you get the onion flavor, but the onions will pretty much dissipate in the soup itself. So you won't have that onion texture.

They are not done here. Still too white, not clear enough.

Now they're done. Can you see the difference?

While the onions are cooking, peel and wash the potatoes.  Now cut them into chunks like this:

Slice them in 1/2" slices in one direction. Put the rounded ends to the side to cut separately.

Stack the slices up, and cut those into three or four sections.

Now turn them in the other directions and slice into 1/2" cubes.

You may not be finished with the potatoes when the onions are done, but go ahead and put an inch or so of water in the pot with the onions and turn the heat up to medium / high. Add the potatoes as you finish chopping each one.

When all of the potatoes are chopped and in the pot, make sure the water just barely covers the chopped potatoes.  Add the bullion or salt (you're choice), and bring the mix to a boil, which it may already be doing. Once boiling, lower to heat to med/low and put the lid on the pot.  It'll take about 20 minutes for the potatoes to cook.

Meanwhile, grate the cheese.  Grate more or less cheese depending upon your preference. I usually use the whole 12 ounces.

You'll know when the potatoes are done when the water gets really starchy and the potatoes start to "melt."  Remove the pot from the heat, and add the cheese and stir until melted.

At this point, it's done.

If you like a thicker soup, you can add a little corn starch to thicken it up. The corn starch will lump up if you pour it in. I used a wire mesh, but a sifter will work fine too. One to two tablespoons will thicken it up fine. Just sprinkle a bit on top, and then stir.  It takes a minute or two after you add it for it to take effect.

Now, why I use organic potatoes. I was going to explain the whole thing, but just google "potatoes non-organic" and you'll find out.