I still had a few Brussels sprout leaves to use up and some spinach, so I decided to make potato chowder, since I also had some onion to use up from my veg box. I used oat milk (any dairy would do) here and nutritional yeast and lemon juice to give it some tang, since there is no cheese or yogurt in this. It is pretty good for a pantry soup with flexible ingredients. Like most soups, better on day 2.

This potato chowder isn’t very fancy, but is pretty easy and satisfying for time, effort, and ingredients. This recipe builds on Julia Child’s potato leek soup, which means it is basically equal parts potato and leeks, or potatoes and onions, or some combo of leeks and onions boiled up in a pot of salted water (you can also use stock, but salty water is fine in a pinch). While the potatoes and onions are boiling, I sautéed chopped Brussels sprout leaves in some oil because they were tough and like cabbage or kale, so needed some cooking before they went into the soup. When the potatoes looked done, I took out maybe half of the potato/onion/salty water mix and put in a blender (or a large jar if you’re using a stick mixer), and add two or so cups of the dairy or non-dairy milk you like (I used oat milk here), about a tablespoon of garlic powder, a scant 1/4 c of nutritional yeast, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and blended until smooth. I like some chunks of potato, but if you like a more smooth soup, go ahead and blend the whole thing. I added the raw spinach, sautéed Brussels sprout leaves, and blended potato mix leaves to the pot and stirred. Season as needed or thin out with more milk if necessary.