Vegan creamy potato soup. y'all!

Okay, I was so excited to see that the veggies in the veggie box lent themselves so conclusively to the idea of potato soup. Potatoes, onion, celery . . . That's about all you need.

So, here goes.

Chop up one onion real good. Saute it in a medium pot over medium-high heat with a little cooking spray (or olive oil, if you're not trying to lose weight, like me). Stir it occasionally.

Chop up three potatoes real good. (I do them in quarters lengthwise, then in 1/8 inch slices). Add them to the onions and saute them, too.

At this point, I know it sounds weird, but the whole sauteing thing really adds a lot of flavor, so keep cooking them until they're both getting a brown caramelized color, and building up a starchy brown layer on the bottom of the pot.

Chop up three stalks of celery real good. Add about a teaspoon of salt and a bay leaf as well. Add them once the onions and potatoes have gotten brown and then fill the pot with water to just cover the potatoes. This will make a very thick soup -- if you like your soup thinner with more broth stuff, add more water, but I like mine more like a chowder.

Okay, now bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. When the potatoes get smooshed easily with the back of a wooden spoon, you have several options.

1 -- you can just wait until it's cool enough and eat it like that.
2 -- you can take about half of the soup out and puree it in a food processor or blender.
3 -- you can put an immersion blender in the pot and puree about half of it. I use this third technique because it's easy and requires little cleanup, but yields a very creamy soup. Be careful of splashes, though.

Add freshly ground black pepper if you have it -- a lot! Then enjoy!

It was very good, and it made about three servings. Vegan and fat-free. Oh, because of the whole "caramelizing" thing, this will appear brown in color. If you're into bright white potato soup and the brown thing doesn't appeal to you, this isn't the soup recipe for you -- but if you can get past the brown, it's delicious and comforting.