Spicy Cheezy Bac’n Potato Soup

Ingredients:

Bac’n:

1- 8oz package of tempeh

Marinade:

3 T olive oil

1/4 C shoyu

2 T balsamic vinegar

2 T maple syrup

1 T chipotle chili powder

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Slice tempeh into 8-10 thin slices
3. Place in a shallow baking dish
4. Whisk all of the marinade ingredients together and pour over the tempeh, making sure it is evenly coated
5. Bake 20-30 min or until tempeh has browned and marinade has been mostly absorbed

Potato Croutons:

2 small potatoes, diced 

salt and pepper

1 T olive oil

1. Toss the diced potato with salt, pepper and olive oil.
2. Spread on a sheet pan and place in a 350F oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden and crispy

Soup:

1 T olive oil

1 Lg onion, diced

1 lb new potatoes, skin on, washed and diced

1 C sliced carrots

1 Quart Vegetable Broth

2 Cloves of garlic, minced

1 Bay Leaf

1 C unsweetened soy milk

1/2 C nutritional Yeast

1 T yellow mustard

salt and pepper

1. In a large sauce pan heat the olive oil over med-high and add the onion.  Sautee until the onion is soft and translusent
2. Add the garlic and carrots and cook for 3-5 min until the carrots begin to soften.
3. Add the potatoes and toss together for 1 minute.
4. Add the vegetable broth and bay leaf.  Bring up to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer.
5. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
6. Turn off the heat and remove the bay leaf.  Stir in the nutritional yeast, mustard and sou milk.
7. With an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients together.  (You can also use a regular blender to do this, however you will need to blend in batches)
8. Turn the heat back on to low and crumble in all but 2 of the tempeh bacon slices.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with crumbled bacon and potato croutons.