It’s soup time of year again.

Making thick, heavy soups is one of the joys of the cold weather. It might not offset driving to work on a sheet of ice, but it helps a little.

This potato chowder is easy to make into a vegan version by replacing the cheese with soy cheese or Daiya and replacing the cream with almond milk or taking out the cream and adding an extra cup of veggie broth.

Start by skinning and dicing the potatoes, then boiling them until they are tender.

While the potatoes are boiling, cut the asparagus into small chunks about 3/4 of an inch long and dice the onion fairly small.

Once the potatoes are soft, drop the asparagus in with the potatoes for a few minutes until that is soft as well.

Drain these and set aside.

Saute the onions in the olive oil in the same pot that you boiled the potatoes in. Once they are translucent, add the garlic, salt and pepper.

saute this mixture for a few minutes, then add the vegetable broth and corn. Bring this to a boil, then reduce heat and add the cream and shredded cheese. Simmer this while adding the potatoes and asparagus back in.

Let the soup heat all the way through for about ten minutes on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

Scoop about 2/3 to 3/4 of the soup into a food processor or blender. Puree and then add back into the remaining soup and mix thoroughly. Heat this up and you’re ready to serve.

If you have a small food processor (like I do), this may involve using a large bowl to hold the puree while you use a few different batches in the food processor.

Serve with a scoop of sour cream (or Tofutti sour cream) and some fresh dill on top. Squeeze just a little bit of fresh lemon juice into the bowl as well.

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds of potatoes

3 cups vegetable broth

1 pound asparagus (fresh)

1 cup corn (fresh is good, but frozen works)

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup cream or almond milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Salt

Pepper

Sour cream (garnish)

Fresh dill (garnish)

Lemon juice (garnish)