Homemade...Potato, Broccoli, Cheddar Soup

As mentioned in this previous post I recently made a delicious potato broccoli soup. I completely made this one up as per my usual, but this time had the foresight to actually write down what I was adding to the mix! Below is a picture of the finished product. The recipe follows.

Potato, Broccoli, & Cheddar Soup

• 1-2 T. olive oil
  
• 2 c. yellow onions
• 1 c. red onions, both types chopped somewhere between fine & rough
• 2 & 1/2 lbs. potatoes, 1/2 of them peeled, all cut into 1/2" chuncks
• 3 c. water
• 1 extra large vegetable boullion cube (I used Knorr)
• 1 pound broccoli, chopped into 1" pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 - 15 oz. can of cream style corn (non-cream style would be fine, too - but cream style tasted better - I know b/c I made it a second time w/ the non-creamy)
• 1 - 12 oz. can of evaporated milk (I used "light" - or 2% fat)
  
• 1 c. shredded cheddar
• salt & pepper to taste

I just added everything into the large pot in the order listed above. I kept the burner between a 6&7 on a scale of 1-10. I let the first 5 ingredients cook for about 10-15 minutes with the lid on before I added the broccoli, then let that cook for about 5 minutes with the lid on before I added the remainder of the ingredients. I then let everything cook for another 10-15 minutes for the flavors to blend. Do stir every few minutes so the bottom doesn't burn. This was really good and very comforting on a cold night. Would be great with some hearty bread and a few bacon crumbles atop the soup, but we've gone vegetarian for at least the first two months of the year so the bacon was out for us. I almost added about 1/2 a beer for some extra flavor but decided against it in the last minute. The picture doesn't do the soup (stew?) justice. It made a large amount - about 14 cups. Six of us ate and there was enough for 2 servings the next day. Buon appetito! (Not that potato soup is traditionally Italian - we just have a slight Italy fetish!) -Carrie