Potato-and-Mustard-and-Seaweed Soup

My new favourite potato soup!

This is adapted from a recipe from The Vegan Cookbook ("adapted" because I didn't have all the ingredients and was too tired to go out and get them). I've included the original ingredients, in case you have those but not the stuff I used.

Stuff:

One chopped onion, (the original recipe said leeks)
One spring onion,
Two cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed,
Four potatoes (or fewer, or more), chopped,
About two tablespoons of Wakame seaweed (the recipe said "Atlantic sea vegetable flakes or finely chopped dulse", but I don't know what these things are. You could probably get by just fine without any seaweed, if you're not into that kind of thing),
Two teaspoons wholegrain mustard (the recipe said mustard powder),
Vegetable stock,
Olive oil,
Miso paste (you could probably get by just fine without this!).

Making:
1. It is probably easiest if you chop stuff up first, but that's your call. Do whatever you're most comfortable with. I'm not the boss of you.

2. Get out a pot that looks like it will fit all of your ingredients in, plus some water and stuff. Fry the onion in the olive oil until it's translucent. Add garlic and spring onion and give them a stir for a bit. Add the mustard and do the same (this smells really good to me).

3. Add the potatoes, and enough water to cover the potatoes and then some. Bring to the boil.

4. Add all of the rest of the stuff. Simmer until the potatoes are soft.

5. If you are an organised person who cooks stuff ahead of time and has appliances, wait for the soup to cool, then blend it 'til it's about as smooth as you find delicious, then reheat and serve. If you're not organised and don't like loud noises, just try smooshing it all up with a potato masher or something until it you're bored of that, then eat it.

6. Yum!

Ultimate Break Up Treat

Ingredients:

* More potatoes than you think are strictly necessary,
* An onion or two,
* More mushrooms than you think are strictly necessary,
* More butter than you think is strictly necessary,
* Some of slices of bread/Some breadcrumbs,
* Some delicious melty cheese

What To Do:
* Peel and boil them potatoes like nobody's business.
* Sautee the onions until they start going clear, then add the mushrooms and lightly cook them.
* Mash up the potatoes when they are soft. Put the mashed potato into a big baking dish.
* Mix through the onion and mushroom concoction.
* Either grate the cheese, OR, if you are lazy or fragile, dice the cheese. Mix the grated cheese through the potatoonionmushroom mush, or poke the cubular cheese in strategically.
* Foodprocess up yourself some tasty breadcrumbs. Put a good layer of breadcrumbs on top of all the other mush.
* Melt some butter (much more than you think you should), and drizzle on the breadcrumbs.
* Cook in an oven on some heat until the breadcrumbs go crunchy and awesome.
* Munch it down.

You are cured! Right? Right?!

Leek and Potato Soup

Ingredients
* potatoes
* a leek
* some onion (I used two, but I sure do dig that onion)
* olive or canola oil
* chicken or vegetable stock

Instructions:
* chop up the onions and sautee them in the oil until they turn clear.
* chop the potatoes and the leek into smallish bits, and add to the onions.
* add a bunch of water and the stock.
* boil until all the bits go soft and start to disintegrate.

I mashed it up with a potato masher thing once the vegetables had gotten soft enough. If you find leek and potato boring, maybe some spices?