Week 10: Potato & Garlic Soup

Although my rule has been to stick to lower calorie, broth-based soup, with the few & easy ingredients and quick prep time for this recipe, I decided to go for it. Soooo glad I did!

This was by far the most quick & easy to prepare soup I have made. Also, it tasted great right after making, no need to make this the day before. The recipe called for new potatoes about 1 to 1-1/5 inches in diameter. I didn't have time to go to that farmer's market this week, so I went to Real Produce. Unfortunately, they didn't have new potatoes so I just tried to pick the smallest red potatoes I could find. I've never tasted the difference between new potatoes and the regular potatoes, but apparently they are young potatoes with thinner skin and less starchy than the potatoes that are common in supermarkets. The soup tasted fabulous with the regular potatoes, but I wouldn't mind making this soup again if I do find the new potatoes at my farmer's market one day, just to compare.

To make the soup, I washed and scrubbed the potatoes and cut into 1/8" slices, leaving on the peel (easy!). I boiled the potatoes for about 5 minutes until they were cooked. I drained them and set them aside while I melted Boursin cheese with the half and half. Once the cheese was melted, I added the potatoes. The cream was not garlicy enough for me, so I added some minced garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper. That's all. Soup's on!

I warned my friends that this soup would be quite rich and was definitely just an appetizer soup. We served it in small bowls and garnished with freshly chopped parsley. The parsley really added to the flavor. I could have added chives too, but they aren't my favorite and the soup was quite delicious without them. My friends and I ate the soup all up. This is the first time in the super challenge where I did not have leftovers! But in our defense, it was a small batch.


Ingredients:
12 ounces red potatoes (or new potatoes)
(1 to 1-1/2 inches diameter) / $$0.79 /lb = $1.58 / Real Produce
2 cups half & half / $1.69 / Trader Joe's
5 oz. Boursin cheese with garlic & herbs / $5.99/ Nob Hill
chopped fresh parsley for garnish/ $0.59 / Real Produce
chopped fresh chives for garnish / (didn't use it)
salt / from home
pepper / from home
additional minced garlic (optional) / from home

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4-5
Taste: 5 stars
Prep: Super duper easy!
Cost: $9.85

Yummy!!!!!!