Cream of vegetable soup

This weekend was much cooler then recent weeks with high temperatures remaining in the 70's and lows in the 50's. I was inspired by the cool air to cook up warm things. This started with a cream of vegetable soup on Saturday. Soup is usually made of whatever I have on hand and I think it's a great way to clean out frozen and fresh veggies. Now we have easy lunches for this week! I will warn you that I use no cream in my cream soups because I like to keep them pretty guiltless, but they're still packed with flavor and I never miss that cream. I doubt you will either.

Cream of vegetable soup
Makes 6 large bowls
Ingredients:
16 oz frozen corn
1 head broccoli washed and cut in florets
4 medium potatoes cubed
1 medium yellow onion diced
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 tbsp flour
32 oz chicken broth
1 cup skim milk
1 tsp dried crushed thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (for kick)
2 tbsp minced garlic (could use powder instead)
handful of chopped parsley (for color, optional)
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Boil potatoes over high heat until tender, drain and reserve. In a large pot, saute onions in oil over medium-high heat until translucent. Add minced garlic, thyme, basil, red pepper, 1/2 tsp salt and saute one minute more. Add in flour and stir well. Stirring and scraping bottom of pan, continue cooking another minute or so.

Slowly add milk about 1/4 cup at a time and continue stirring until you have a thick gravy. Slowly add chicken stock so that the thick liquid is slowly diluted. If you add too much liquid at any point, the creaminess will completely separate. Slow is key.

Add in cooked potatoes and blend with an immersion blender to break them up and add body to the soup. Leave some chunks for texture. Add broccoli, corn, parsley and cheese, reduce to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a crusty bread.