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!

Apple Muse

Taken from here (http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec70.htm) and the amounts of ingredients totally made up.

Ingredients:
* about 5 medium sized Granny Smith apples
* 1 lot of almond milk (but I added maybe another half a cup of almond meal to it to thicken it up a bit)
* maybe a cup of breadcrumbs
* maybe a table spoon of honey
* a bit of saffron

Do it!:
* peel, core, and slice the apples.
* stew the apples in a pot with some water (and a little bit of sugar if you want) until ready to get mushy.
* mush the apple up into goo.
* add all of the other ingredients.
* slowly heat through on a low heat, stirring fairly often. This baby catches on the bottom pretty quick.

* serve with a mix of spices on top. This is apparently a starter type soup, but it's pretty thick and hearty.

[Edit: Man, what the heck? It seems like a nice wintery breakfast or a nice desert with some icecream. Perhaps more apple involved would be a good idea, and no sugar at all to keep it from being too sweet. Maybe even tarter apples.]

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?

Corn, Potato, and Roast Garlic Soup

Ingredients:
* onion
* butter
* corn kernels
* potato
* chicken stock
* basil
* paprika
* salt
* garlic
* olive oil

Instructions:
* cut onion into tasty morsels and saute in some butter until see through.
* cut some potatoes up into little bits and add to the onions.
* add some water and chicken stock
* chuck in the corn kernels
* bring up the boil and stir for a bit.
* add some (dried) basil and maybe paprika? Anything else you want maybe? Hey, maybe some chili would be good?
* roast the garlic cloves (with the skin on) with a little olive oil until they're gooey on the inside and fill your kitchen up with the smell. Hopefully, the soup will have started to thicken by now, as the potato gets mushy.
* mushy up the gooey garlic when you feel the time is right, and stir it round in the soup.
* serve with some cheese probably.