Basic Potato Soup + Hominy

Cold weather means I don't go to the grocery store as often-- which means sometimes our dinners are super simple. But everyone is cold and wants soup often, anyway, so complex or easy-- soup is always a winner in the winter. :) 

*Basic* Potato Soup
makes about 2 quarts (enough for about 4 people as a main course or 8 people as a side)

Put a large soup pot over medium high heat, and add:

a swirl/about a Tbsp. of avocado oil, butter, ghee, coconut oil, etc. - whatever 'fat' you prefer
1 small onion OR leek, finely chopped
2 stalk celery with leaves, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
salt & pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced OR 1 tsp. of garlic powder
1 tsp. thyme (rub in your hands before adding)
1-2 tsp. parsley
--A few shakes of anything else you'd like. Today I used Trader Joe's Onion Salt and Penzey's Seasoned Salt. If you have a different flavor profile go for it! 
about 6-9 Yukon Gold potatoes - diced (scrub them, then trim any bad spots away but just leave the peel on)
1 quart veggie or chicken stock

Let this come to a gentle boil. While that is happening, crack open 1, 15oz can of white beans (like navy, great northern, cannellini, etc.) and drain and rinse them. Add them to your food processor with about a Tbsp of water and puree until smooth. You might be able to use a regular blender to achieve this but I can't speak into whether this is actually successful or not. Add the pureed beans to the soup pot.

After it is bubbling, turn down the heat to low. Let this simmer until the potatoes are tender.

At this point, I took a big handful of baby spinach leaves and finely chopped them and added them to the pot-- letting them cook a couple minutes until wilted.

When you're ready to eat, adjust the soup with salt and pepper to your taste.
I *did* do one little swirl of heavy cream at the end because it was in my fridge and I couldn't help myself. 😬🙈

Other great final additions include a scoop of sour cream.. or a few shavings of a sharp cheese... bacon bits... chopped chives or scallions... etc... the possibilities are endless. 🙌 But the title of this piece is BASIC potato soup so I didn't load it on today! 👌

Then grab your cast iron skillet and fry up one drained and rinsed can of hominy in a little butter. Pan fry for just a minute or two. Your kitchen will smell amazing! 😍

Ladle soup into bowls and top with hominy. 

This one is such a winner-- you probably have all of this stuff in your pantry/fridge already (easy!); there are beans, veggies, spinach! (healthy!); and it is so so good.  
Buon appetito! 😋