Vanilla Bean Potato Soup

Occasionally~~and more times than I typically care to admit~~the inspiration for my posts, and recipes, in particular, generates from utter randomness (using my sons vocabulary).  Case in point, is today's post, which came from watching the television while on the stair master!

One of the shows broadcasted a recipe for 'Cream of Potato Soup'.  Ahhh...those were the days, when I didn't need to worry about my cholesterol and haphazardly ate what I wanted, when I wanted it! Well, with that being said, I still feel the need to eat what I want, but my recipes now need to consist of vegan ingredients.  So here is another recipe that meets the requirements I established for myself!  Enjoy!

1 large sweet onion, peeled and diced

3 cups vanilla oat milk

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons earth balance vegan butter (use the sticks)

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 vanilla bean

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

Method

1) Saute onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Simultaneously, warm the vegan butter and oat milk in a pot big enough to contain all the ingredients.  When onions are complete, place in a blender with 1 to 2 cups of the warmed oat milk.  Blend on high until no pieces of onion are visible.  Place back in the pot with the remaining oat milk and swirl to combine.

Oat Milk with Vanilla and Onions being Sauteed

2) Next, add the potatoes, vanilla extract, vanilla bean and salt and pepper to taste, place a tight fitting lid over it and allow to simmer until the potatoes soften, around 20 minutes. 

3) Remove the vanilla bean and discard .

4) Serve, with 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and salt and pepper.