Vegan Potato and Vegetable Chowder

Apparently my mind can only be creative and plan one part of life at a time. For the past few weeks, the creativity in my cooking has been lacking... but my new home is almost completely furnished, decorated, and ready for entertaining!
As the weather falls (yes, falls) into the 70's here in Florida, soup is all I want! During the past few weeks, I've made large pots of Minestrone, Curry Stewpot, and Pasta e Fagioli. However, I decided it was time to make something new!
I thought about making a baked potato soup, but I wanted it to be lighter and have more vegetables. As I was making this chowder, it just kind of happened, and it turned out to be vegan (except for my sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top!) The way I get my chowder to be so creamy and still vegan and healthy is by adding half the potatoes to the vegetables in a dice and pureeing the rest with vegetable stock I finished the soup with a drizzle of hot sauce and it was absolutely perfect! Next time I might add some pureed cannelini beans (or whole) to give it a little more protein.

Vegan Potato and Vegetable Chowder

2 tbsp. EVOO

2 cups sliced, well cleaned leeks

1 cup sliced carrots

1 red bell pepper, minced

1 red onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, diced

Salt and pepper

6 cups vegetable stock

1 cup corn kernels

1 tbsp. minced parsley

Garnishes - cheddar cheese, hot sauce, chives, crumbled bacon

Slice leeks into thin, half moons, add to a colander with large holes, rinse under running water for a minute. Swish around with fingers while rinsing to get rid of all of the dirt and sand.

Heat a dutch oven over medium heat, add EVOO, leeks, carrots, peppers, onion, garlic and half of the potatoes.

Season with salt and pepper, saute' for 10 minutes.

Add 2 cups of vegetable stock to a small soup pot.

Add half the potatoes to the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes, or until tender.

Add corn and 4 cups of vegetable stock to the vegetables, stir, turn to low.

Add stock and potato mixture to a blender, puree until smooth.

Pour into dutch oven with vegetables. Add parsley, stir to combine.

Taste soup, adjust seasonings.

Ladle into a bowl and top with garnishes.