Rosemary Potato Soup

The weather is gradually cooling down, which means it's soup season!

I think this rosemary potato soup is particularly satisfying. It has a rich, hearty flavor that kind of reminds me of chicken noodle soup. And it just begs to be accompanied by fresh dipping bread. Yum.

Heidi's Rosemary Potato Soup
2 TBSP grape seed oil (or other oil)
1 medium onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
4–6 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
10 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes (I like to leave the skins on, but you can peel them if you want)
2 15-oz. cans of vegetable broth
2 cups unflavored almond milk
3–4 cups water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (probably optional)
1 TBSP dried rosemary
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for five minutes. Add garlic and sauté for two more minutes. Add celery and carrot and sauté for another ten minutes, stirring frequently. Add potatoes, vegetable broth, almond milk, and enough water to cover the vegetables. Add nutritional yeast, rosemary, onion powder, and pepper. Stir thoroughly, cover, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Salt to taste and serve warm! (I ended up adding 1 tsp of salt.)

Note: If you want the broth to be a little thicker, you can blend part of the soup in a blender and then mix it back in. I've also used a simple roux before to thicken the soup (2 TBSP oil, 2 TBSP whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup almond milk; heat oil in a sauce pan, add flour and mix, gradually incorporate milk and let thicken, then add the roux to the soup).