Ready, Set, Weekend with Simply Beautiful Eating

I could literally write three words about this soup and be done with it.

Dreamy.

Creamy.

Steamy.

Bye. See ya!

But that’s not really all I have to say, because I know you have been waiting a while for a little update from SBE headquarters, so here goes…..

If you have been following along on my insta stories, you have seen another project in the works in our home. We have been working really hard on finishing our basement area, inclusive of a special room to store my bazillion props. Well, it’s finally DONE. I now have enough storage space to house odds and sods I have accumulated over the past four years.

So, let’s talk about this soup. I made this in the fall and once again got carried away with other things and didn’t post the recipe. I do this a lot lately. Get carried away, I mean. Most of you know that I have two full time jobs. Yep. TWO. It seems that 24 hours in a day just doesn’t suffice for my lifestyle. Good excuse, eh? I try to juggle it all and end up missing things, like posting this soup.

Now that we are here today, it’s time to talk about something that keeps ending up in my recipes, and that is NUTS. I don’t mean just any old nuts. I mean these nuts. My all-time favourite nuts. Pistachios. I think if you do a keyword search on my blog and plug in pistachios, the majority of my posts will light up like the stars in the sky. There is just something intriguing about these nuts. I think it may be their colour (or the fact that they are stupidly expensive, if they are shelled).

Whatever it is, they complete me and this bowl of soup. Oh, and they also float. Something that is very important to a food photographer! Nothing worse than sinking nuts.

COZY POTATO SOUP WITH TURMERIC GREEK YOGURT & PISTACHIOS

- 6 cups peeled and diced red potatoes (about 5 medium potatoes, diced into small cubes)
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped (I used a Vidalia)
- 2 cups diced celery (about 2 - 3 stalks)
- 8 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I used two 900ml tetra packs)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup butter (can substitute Earth Balance for vegan or dairy-free)
-  ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2½ cups milk (I used coconut)
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt, reserve ¼ cup for garnish
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ cup crushed pistachios
- fresh dill - optional for garnish

1.    Combine diced potatoes, celery and onions with broth in a large stockpot.

2.    Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3.    Cover pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

4.    Once it starts boiling, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook about 20 - 25 minutes or until potatoes are very soft when pierced with a fork.

5.    In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, add flour and cook for 1 minute while whisking constantly. Keep whisking and slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly until mixture begins to just thicken.

6.    Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once potatoes are soft, add the milk mixture to the soup mixture and stir (potatoes will start to break apart into soup, which is fine). Add yogurt and blend with hand immersion blender.

7.    Place reserved Greek yogurt in small bowl and mix in turmeric.

8.    Ladle soup into serving bowls, top each serving with a few dollops of turmeric Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of crushed pistachios and dill. Serve hot.