Creamy Potato & Veggie Soup

 This past weekend, my future mother-in-law threw me a beautiful bridal shower.  With that came many MANY kitchen goodies that I couldn't wait to use! One of these gifts was an immersion blender, which I was SUPER excited to get.  Immersion blenders are commonly used to puree soups from a chunky consistency down to a smoother one (think, broccoli cheddar soup creamy).  Given yesterday was a gloomy, yucky day, I felt soup would be a great starter for dinner....plus I was just using any excuse to unwrap some of these awesome gifts and break them in! This soup was AWESOME and actually fairly healthy.  It yields more than enough for 4 people, but warning, you won't be able to have just one bowl....

Creamy Potato & Veggie Soup

1 carrot

1 medium onion

1 celery rib

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp butter

14.5 oz. Chicken stock

3 medium potatoes

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp tarragon

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup fat free milk

1 cup frozen veggies (peas, corn - whatever you like)

1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli

2 tbsp low fat sour cream

1 cup ham (I used Polish Kielbasi, but you can use ham, bacon, or any other smokey meat)

> Peel and cube your potatoes into 1 inch cubes.  Cook until fork tender.

 > While your potatoes are cooking (should take about 15 minutes), chop up your onion, carrot, celery and garlic.

 > In a large soup pot, melt the 2 tsbp of butter (but be sure not to burn it) - so keep it on a medium heat.  Once the butter is melted, add in your chopped veggies from the previous step.  Cook until translucent on a medium heat (about 10 minutes).

 

 > Once the veggies are translucent, add in all of your spices (sugar, salt, tarragon, thyme, pepper, parsley) and add in the chicken stock.

> At this point, your potatoes will be done, drain them out in the sink and add into your soup.  Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let cook for at least 15 minutes.

 > Once that's cooked for at least 15-20 minutes, you're going to make your soup thickening agent or a slurry.  In a small pot, add your milk and flour and put over a medium to high flame.  Stir constantly until it gets extremely thick and there is no liquid left.  Add that into your soup pot and stir together.

> Now it's time to add in all the frozen veggies (mixed veggies and broccoli) - they don't even need to be completely thawed because they will defrost in the soup as you cook it.  Once they're well integrated into your soup, add in the sour cream.

 > Now it's time to blend! I didn't want to make my soup completely creamy, I did leave a little texture in there, but I must say the immersion blender was everything I hoped it would be a more (and such an easier cleanup than pureeing the soup in a blender.)

> Once you're done pureeing, add in your ham, and cook for a few more minutes to just heat up the ham in the soup.

I served my soup with a dollop of low fat sour cream and a sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese.  It was incredibly hearty without being unhealthy! You're using low fat milk & sour cream and the rest is just veggies and a tiny bit of ham for flavor.  It's a great starter for a meal or a side dish.  I made it as a starter for a steak dinner! Enjoy :)