autumn rainy day meal

Another day of chilly rain around here, although you won't here any complaints from me. Anything is better than the 90s right now. The weather actually feels pretty autumnal, and I'm enjoying the slight change in the color of the leaves. The anticipation is building for a full array of yellows, reds and oranges in the next few weeks.

To celebrate our meteorological changes, I decided to make potato soup and chapatti for dinner. The chapatti recipe I used came from Baking Bread with Children. (If you haven't figured it out, I love this book...go buy it already!) The soup was born of the ingredients I happened to have on hand and what I thought might make a good potato soup. It really came together nicely and was even more delicious with a bit of nutritional yeast sprinkled on top after serving.

Potato (and hidden veggies) Soup

3 lbs of potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and diced

4 carrots, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 summer squash, sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

4 cups veggie broth

3 cups water

1 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour (I used spelt)

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp spicy brown mustard

2 tsp liquid aminos

salt & pepper to taste

Saute carrots, onion, pepper and squash in 2 tbsp olive oil until moderately soft. Blend until smooth, then set aside. Boil potatoes in remaining olive oil, veggie broth and water in a dutch oven or stock pot until potatoes are soft. Mash some, leaving chunks but not huge pieces of potato. While potatoes are cooking, heat butter in sauce pan over medium heat. When butter is melted, add flour and stir until bubbly and smooth. Stir in milk, cream, mustard, liquid aminos and stir occasionally until mixture bubbles and becomes uniform and smooth. Pour blended veggies into potatoes and then pour sauce into soup and stir until evenly mixed. Serve with fresh bread.