Berlin Inspirations: German Potato Soup with Smoky Cashew Cream

         Mmm, soup! I mean noodle soup! I mean soup! ("Friends" is always on my mind during MOFO.) Well, I didn't necessarily have potato soup in Germany so this soup isn't specifically inspired by my travels but it's generally inspired by Germany. Because German potato soup is a thing, according to the internet and common knowledge, as well as Tony Horton and the German pornstar who was in the Chest & Back P90X video. (Okay, so I'm 50% making this for Germany and 50% for one of the funnier parts of the original P90X, when four people look ridiculous swinging their arms around doing pot-stirrers and the always insane Tony Horton tells them to call out their soups. See below. And yes, all of us innocent Xers were informed afterwards that Maren is a pornstar.)

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All the bowls in London are chipped and not in the good Beauty & The Beast way

    From my research, the key ingredient in German Potato Soup (besides potatoes don't forget the potatoes) is bacon. Ew and oh no! I thought of using tempeh bacon or some such alternate, but I decided instead a) not to waste tempeh because it costs like $11 here in London and b) to use the idea of bacon as inspiration in my everpresent soup topping: cashew cream, this time with a dash of liquid smoke to evoke the scent of nonvegan grossness in a very vegan and delicious way. ALSO, Tony tells everyone "don't eat swine while doing the P90X", which is kind of awesome.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter (or canola oil)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon salt (2 if your broth is low salt)
  
• ground black pepper 
• 3 cups potatoes, diced
• 4 cups strong vegetable broth

For the cream:

• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least an hour (I have to soak my cashews now because I left my precious in America and stupid Vitamix UK won't give me a freebie)
• 1/4 cup water
• dash of liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce 


Directions:

1. Heat the butter in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and cook for about 7 minutes, until translucent and starting to brown.
2. Add the spices and then the potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil for about 3 minutes, then bring down to a simmer for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are mushy. 
3. *Remove the bay leaves! 
4. With an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Or chunky if you like that better. 
5. You can add the bay leaves back in now for sitting and storage and stuff. Enjoy!

For the cream:

1. Blend in a blender or in a measuring cup with the immersion blender. 

BOILING BRAIN PICTURE

Soak your damn cashews

Take out your bay leaves before blending!

Lovely soup with a little cashew cream dropped in

      I really love potato soup and this was no exception! It's so simple and really delicious. As you can see, I added some chickpeas to my bowl. And these are not ordinary chickpeas. I bought these from a bulk container at a nearby health food store, thinking they were like my beloved roasted crunchy chickpeas from The Good Bean. Nope, these are in fact the only very spicy food you can find in London. SO SPICY! Mixed into this soup, the spice dissipated a little and it was awesome! Any crunchy chickpea would be lovely here, or tempeh bacon, of course. I think Maren and Tony would be proud. And Germany.